


Fast Times At Sheldon High

by a_dot_burr_ell



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-13
Updated: 2014-10-18
Packaged: 2018-01-24 13:59:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1607657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_dot_burr_ell/pseuds/a_dot_burr_ell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High School AU where the Clone Club are a group of sextuplets who were separated when they were young. Reunited once more after a misunderstanding brings them together, they must now attend high school together and learn to get along. Teen angst, fluff, and some humor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I always wondered how clone club would interact as teenagers.

Chapter 1

Alison Hendrix sighed as she walked into the indoor mall. It was busy, people milling around the only air-conditioned building in the city, but Alison didn’t mind. Being 16 years old, the only place she wanted to be was at the mall with her friends. She didn’t currently have any friends seeing as her parents had moved them to the godforsaken town of Scarborough for her father’s new job but none of that mattered now that she was walking through the racks of the trendiest store she could find with her daddy’s credit card. He claimed that she needed new school clothes but Alison knew that since it was the beginning of summer her father was simply trying to make up for the fact that his new job had robbed her of all her friends.

She hadn't noticed the tall security guard following her or the way the store clerks had hurriedly picked up the phone, watching her every move. In fact, Alison hadn't noticed anything wrong until 2 police officers entered the store and walked up to her.

“What do you think you’re doing?” One them asked her.

“Excuse me?” Alison asked, startled by their quick appearance.

“You’re supposed to stay 100 yard away from here at all times, Manning.” The second officer said.

“Are you sure you have the right person?” Alison laughed nervously. She had never spoken to a police officer until now and had no idea what they were talking about.

“Stop playing stupid.” The first one said, pulling out a pair of handcuffs. “You’re under arrest for violating your restraining order.”

“What! NO!” She shrieked as the officer grabbed her arm and yanked it behind her back. “You’re making a mistake! My name is Alison Hendrix! I just moved here, like, yesterday!”

They ignored her, speaking over her as they repeated her rights and told her to remain silent. They escorted her out of the mall and into a patrol car, practically tossing her in the back. The officers got in casually, still ignoring her pleas.

“Was she always this shrill?” The driver asked as they pulled into the station.

“Shrill!?” Alison repeated, highly insulted when the second officer laughed.

They pulled her out of the car and escorted her in, putting her into a chair and handcuffing her to the arm of the chair. Other police officers were smirking as they passed her, ignoring as she asked for her phone call. Finally, another officer came over and sat on the desk. He was older, white hair slicked back, and wearing a faded brown suit. He was holding her purse and going through her wallet.

“So where’d you get these?” He said, holding up her ID and her father’s credit card. “Using someone’s else’s credit card constitutes identity theft, these fake licenses are fraud. You’re on a roll today, Manning.”

“Those are mine! That card belongs to my father!” Alison shrieked. “Let me call him and he’ll tell you!”

“So you’re asking for your phone call?” He asked.

“Yes, I want to call my parents.” Alison said, her voice breaking. This was the single most scary and embarrassing experience of her life and all she wanted to do was go home.

“Tell you what? I got Mrs. S’s phone number here, why don’t I call her for you?” He said.

“What? Who?” Alison asked, finally beginning to cry. “I don’t know who that is!”

The officer’s eyes narrowed in confusion, never expecting Sarah Manning to cry. Figuring it was an act; he dialed the phone number and cleared his throat when a woman answered the phone.

“Hello?” The voice answered with an English lilt.

“Siobhan Saddler?” He asked.

“This is she.” The voice answered.

“This is Officer Deangelis down at the station. We need you to come down here.” He told her.

“Which one is this about?” Siobhan asked, her anger apparent over the phone.

“Sarah.” The officer answered matter-of-factly.

A commotion on the other side of the station caught Officer Deangelis’ attention. He spoke hurriedly into the phone, eager to help the other officer who were currently struggling to subdue another suspect.

“Look, we need you to come down here as quick as possible, I gotta go.” He hung up the phone without another word.

~~~

On the other end of the line, Siobhan Saddler returned the phone to the dock and stomped into the living room were her foster children were currently watching TV. Grabbing the remote, Siobhan turned it off, earning a ‘Hey!’ from both teens.

“Shut up, both of you!” She yelled, silencing them. “Sarah, would you care to tell me why the police just called and asked us to go down to the station?”

Her foster daughter looked genuinely surprised and traded a look with her foster brother, Felix.

“Don’t look at him, look at me!” Siobhan shouted, placing herself in front of Sarah.

“Mrs. S, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Sarah said.

“Don’t lie!” She shouted, her temper rising.

“I’m not lying, honest!” Sarah shouted, her own temper flaring. “I’ve been here the bloody time! What could I have possibly done, eh?”

“Mrs. S, Sarah’s been bumming around here for days. It’s too hot to go outside.” Felix offered weakly.

“I’m not asking you, Felix.” Siobhan snapped. “Sarah, get up. We’re going down to the police station.”

“What? No! I didn’t do anything!” Sarah roared as her foster mother pulled her off of the couch.

“Stop fighting me, or so help me, I will knock you out and drag you there.” She told her, pointing her finger in her face.

“Fine, dammit!” Sarah shook her off and followed her outside. “But I didn’t do anything!”

“Why don’t I believe you?” Mrs. S said sarcastically, starting up her old truck and pulling away from the curb.

“Mrs. S, I promised I would straighten out, didn’t I? So why would I do something so soon?” Sarah tried to convince her.

“I don’t know, why would you?” She asked, keeping up the sarcasm.

Sarah screamed and banged her fist on the dashboard in anger. “I didn’t fucking do anything! I’m telling the truth!”

“Save it for the cops, Sarah.” Siobhan said.

Sarah sat fuming until they pulled up to the police station. Not wanting to give Mrs. S the satisfaction of coaxing her out, Sarah got out of the car and slammed the door, stomping into the building. Siobhan rolled her eyes and followed her daughter, approaching the front desk where an elderly woman sat reading a magazine.

“Siobhan Saddler and Sarah Manning to see Officer Deangelis.” She told the woman.

The receptionist pointed out the way and the two trudged to the back. Sarah hung back behind Siobhan, hating every step she took. They entered the back area were the officers kept their desks, noticing that a young woman was shouting and all the officers were ignoring her. Sarah thought that the girl’s voice sounded almost like her own but was jarred from her thoughts when someone stepped in their path.

“Nice to see you again, Mrs. Saddler.” Officer Deangelis said cordially.

“I’d like to say the same, but I really don’t consider this a positive outing.” She smiled wryly.

Not caring for their pleasantries, Sarah stepped out from behind Siobhan. “Mind telling me why we’re here exactly?”

“Sarah, mind your tongue.” Siobhan snapped but Sarah rolled her eyes.

Deangelis blinked stupidly at Sarah before his head swiveled around to stare at someone else and snapped back to gape at her.

“Sarah, but-” He stammered, looking between the person handcuffed to the chair and the girl in front of him. “Then who is-?”

“What are you going on about?” Sarah snapped. “Are you going to arrest me or not?”

“But she looks exactly like you!” Deangelis shouted, pointing behind him.

“Oh dear lord, there’s two of you.” Mrs. S whispered.

“What?” Sarah said, very confused.

“Look, love. In the chair.” She replied.

Sarah leaned around the police officer to see the girl who was handcuffed to the chair and gaped. Sitting in the chair was her mirror image. Deangelis walked over and uncuffed the girl who stood gaping back at Sarah.

They were the same height, their eyes the same shade of brown, and their faces were identical. The only differences were style. Sarah wore a beat up leather jacket over a band t-shirt with ripped jeans and black combat boots. Her hair was kept long but had a wild look to it. Alison was wearing jeans, trendy flats, and a blue tank with ruffles around top. Alison’s hair was long but straightened with bangs were as Sarah’s was wavy and tousled.

“This is not possible.” Alison said, looking Sarah up and down.

“What the hell is this?” Sarah demanded, looking to her foster mother. “Mrs. S, did I have a bloody twin?”

“I suppose it’s possible.” Siobhan responded. “We never did know much about your parents.”

“What are you talking about?” Alison asked. “I’m an only child!”

“Maybe we should call your parents.” Deangelis suggested.

He was feeling foolish now that Sarah and Siobhan had arrived. He gave the other girl the phone and listened as she called her parents.

“Daddy?” Alison said into the phone.

“Yeah, Princess?” Her father said wearily into the phone.

He must be in the middle of unpacking, Alison thought. Figuring she may as well get to the point, Alison began explaining her situation.

“Dad, I got arrested at the mall because they thought I was some ruffian.” Alison shot Sarah a dirty look.

“‘Ruffian’?” Sarah repeated, slightly offended.

“You were arrested?” Her father shouted.

“Mmhmm.” Alison confirmed. “But the person they meant to arrest is here and they say she looks exactly like me! But, honestly, I don’t see it.”

“Oi!” Sarah exclaimed. “We look exactly the same! We’re freakin’ twins!”

Alison rolled her eyes and ignored her.

“She what?” Her father asked, confused.

“She’s claiming we’re twins but that’s impossible!” Alison explained. “I mean, you never had any other kids but me, right?”

She listened as her father sighed. “Actually, Alison… There’s something your mother and I haven’t told you.”

“No, dad…” Alison laughed nervously, not liking where this was going. “You can’t mean what I think you do.”

“Yeah, honey.” He said.

“I’m ADOPTED!?” She screamed into the phone.

Sarah sniggered and Alison shot her a deathly glare. Mrs. S hit her on the shoulder to silence her.

“OI! What?” Sarah whispered, shrugging.

Alison scoffed and turned her attention back to the phone.

“Your mother and I are on our way. Just wait till we get there and we’ll explain everything.” Her dad said, hanging up the phone.

Alison let out a strangled cry and sat heavily in the chair, pouting. “This is the worst day ever.”

“Apparently.” Sarah said, leaning up against a desk.

“Well, excuse me! But when I woke up this morning I was an only child. Now I’m adopted, twins with some low-life grifter, and I got arrested because I was mistaken for you!”

“Yeah and I’ve never known a blood relation but being your twin certainly sucks.” Sarah quipped, turning to Mrs. S. “Can we go?”

Sarah was smarting from the insults her twin had been throwing at her. After all her years of wishing that she could find her family, it wasn’t turning out anything like she had hoped. Siobhan smiled kindly at her but shook her head.

“I think we should wait here to talk to the Her parents.” She told Sarah. “Haven’t you always said you wanted to know more about your birth family? They may have answers.”

“Fine.” Sarah relented.

They didn’t have to wait long for Alison’s parents to arrive. They made a bee-line straight for their daughter, momentarily caught off guard when they spotted Sarah. The two introduced themselves as Michael and Diane Hendrix, shaking hands with Mrs. S and Officer Deangelis. Michael Hendrix was tall, with brown hair that had touches of grey on the sides. Looking at Alison’s mom, Sarah could see where she had received many of her mannerisms. Diane Hendrix was composed, not one hair out of place and stood ramrod straight. While Michael shook Sarah’s hand, Diane merely nodded her greeting with a tight smile.

Mr. and Mrs. Hendrix spoke briefly with Alison to hear about what had happened and they asked to immediately speak with someone in charge. Officer Deangelis sighed and invited all of the adults into his lieutenant’s office, leaving Alison and Sarah together. The adults crowded into the room, a hardened, grey, man sitting behind the desk rose to shake everyone’s hands. His name plate named him ‘Lt. Hardcastle’ and he gestured for Siobhan and Mrs. Hendrix to sit.

“Folks, I got the report of what happened today and I wanted to express my sincere apologies.” He laughed nervously. “I’m sure you can understand that nobody anticipated finding out that you’re daughters are twins.”

“We can appreciate that.” Mr. Hendrix said. “But our Alison was practically traumatized and you never even let her call us until her twin showed up.”

“And let’s not forget the phone call I received.” Mrs. S added. “I received no information, no reason to why I was being called down here. If your officer had been a little more forthcoming we may have been able to clear this up earlier.”

“Again, we are very sorry and offer you are sincerest apology.” The Lieutenant said.

“Well I think you owe the girls the apology.” Mr. Hendrix said pointedly.

 Hardcastle sighed. “Fine.”

The adults stood and waited for the older man to exit the room. They found Sarah and Alison sitting on the benches. Neither twin was speaking to the other and Mrs. S noticed that Sarah had pulled up the hood of her jacket; a clear sign that she was feeling defensive. The old cop sighed heavily as he stood before the two girls. Usually, he would never lower himself to feign apology to teenagers, especially if one of those teens was a known criminal, but he knew that the Hendrix could possibly sue them.

“So I wanted to extend an official apology to you both for this misunderstanding.” He rattled off, using the usual speech the station used in situations like these. “We hope that you will trust us with any problems you may have in the future.”

“That was real sincere.” Sarah whispered sarcastically.

Alison surprised her by cracking a smile in response. The old man ignored her and looked to their parents as if to ask ‘good enough?’ Sighing, Mr. Hendrix nodded and motioned for Alison to get up.

“We’ll be speaking to our lawyer. We should get going.” He said, turning to Siobhan and Sarah. “It was nice to meet you both. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing you again, perhaps we should exchange information?”

“Of course.” Mrs. S agreed.

Mrs. Hendrix didn’t seemed too thrilled by the idea that her husband had suggested, but said nothing as he and Mrs. S exchanged phone numbers. Diane Hendrix stood behind Alison, rubbing her daughter’s arms soothingly. Both parties turned to walk away when Sarah stepped forward.

“Wait!” She called out, relieved when the trio stopped and turned. “Could you-? I mean… I was wondering if you had any information about my, our, birth parents?”

Mr. and Mrs. Hendrix exchanged a look.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t.” Diane Hendrix said coolly. “I’m sure you must have some contact from wherever you were adopted from.”

Mrs. S stepped up behind Sarah, putting her hands on the younger girl’s shoulders. “We don’t actually.” She said just as coolly.

“You don’t?” Mr. Hendrix asked, surprised. His demeanor was calm and welcoming, unlike his wife’s.

“No. Sarah came to me when she was around 8 years old but she had been bounced around so much that all of her records were lacking.” Mrs. S explained. “It also doesn’t help that the place where we finalized the adoption was overseas and is no longer operating.”

“It is odd. I thought that siblings were usually kept together.” He responded and looked to his wife. “It probably wouldn’t hurt to try and get some answers.”

“Oh, honey, I don’t know…” Mrs. Hendrix started.

“As soon as we have any information, we’ll give you both a call.” Mr. Hendrix vowed, speaking over his wife.

“We’d appreciate that.” Mrs. S commented. Exhausted, Sarah and Mrs. S said their goodbyes and headed back to their truck. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Sarah sighed. “I don’t know. I just wasn’t expecting to find… all of this. At least I didn’t get arrested.”

“Yeah.” Mrs. S laughed but then quickly sobered. “But I owe you an apology.”

“Yeah?” Sarah asked, disbelieving.

Mrs. S nodded. “Yes. You didn’t do anything wrong and I’m sorry.”

“Wow. I think that’s the first time you’re ever said that to me.” Sarah pretended to be surprised.

“Oh, shut it you!” Siobhan laughed, elbowing her from the driver’s seat.

“Seriously, S. Thank you.” Sarah said seriously. “I have a feeling things are going to crazy for a bit.”

“I was getting the same feeling.” She agreed.

Felix is probably shitting himself, Sarah thought wryly, leaning her head back on the seat.

They pulled up in front of the townhouse just as the sun was going down. Sarah estimated that they had been at the police station for almost 3 hours. Both women walked up the steps and through the front door, relieved to be home. Just as they were rounding the corner, Felix stepped into the hall.

“Mrs. S! What happened?” Felix demanded but stopped short when he saw his sister. “Sarah!? You’re back!”

“Yeah, Fee.” Sarah smiled wearily. “I didn’t get arrested.”

Sarah went around her foster brother to throw herself onto the couch. Siobhan did the same, surprising Felix. The teen boy stood in front of the couch, his hands on his hips and leaning his weight back on his right foot.

“Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?” He asked, cocking a well-manicured eyebrow at them.

“It’s complicated, Fee.” Sarah said.

“You’re going to have to tell him sooner or later, love.” Mrs. S said. “May as well be now.”

 “Alright.” Sarah sighed. “I guess the short of it is that I have a sister.”

“What?” Felix gaped, sinking down onto a chair across from the couch. “You’re got to be shitting me.”

“Nope. And they arrested her at the mall because they thought she was me.” She explained.

“Oh shit.” Felix laughed.

“Yeah, so she hates me and I’m pretty sure her mum thinks I’m a low-life too.” Sarah grumbled.

“Her mother seemed like she had a stick up her arse. But her dad seemed nice.” Mrs. S said.

“That’s true.” Sarah conceded.

“Wait. So that’s why they called you down there? Because they thought she was you?” Felix asked. “Does she look that much like you?”

“Identical, Felix.” Mrs. S said.

“I have a fricken’ twin!” Sarah groaned.

“That is...” Felix searched for the word. “Intense.”

Sarah laughed and nodded. “Intense doesn't even begin to describe it.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new clone... er, sister, enters.

Chapter 2

Beth walked briskly into the police station and walked up to the receptionist desk that was manned by an elderly woman.

“Hello, I’m here to apply for the volunteer desk.” She informed her.

“Really?” The old woman said disbelievingly, looking her up and down. “ _You_ want to apply for that?”

“Excuse me?” Beth asked, confused.

“Just wait here.” The woman said, got up from the desk and heading into the back.

Beth waited patiently until the receptionist returned with a hardened, grey, man with a scowl on his face.

“Sarah?” He asked.

Beth was puzzled and simply looked at him questioningly.

“Alison.” He tried again.

“I don’t know who those people are. My name is Beth Childs.” She said slowly.

“Oh my god, it’s another one.” The man said. He cleared his throat and offered his hand. “I’m Lieutenant Hardcastle.  You should probably come with me; we need to make a few calls. Ellen can you call Siobhan and the Hendrix's?”

“Sure.” The receptionist agreed and began digging in her files.

“Am I in trouble?” Beth asked.

“No.” He said. “But are your folks available?”

“It’s just my dad and he’s at work.” She answered.

“Ok, we’ll wait to see who can come.” The Lieutenant muttered.

He ushered Beth into his office and shut the door. Beth sat quietly, waiting for this guy to offer any explanation but received none. It was less than a half hour later when someone came to the door and informed the old officer that the people he was waiting for had all arrived.

“Good, they’re here.” He stood and ushered her out of the room.

A group of people were standing around outside of the office, talking animatedly until they saw Beth approaching. Beth noticed that there were 3 three of them, 2 seemed to be a couple and were standing close to one another and the other was a girl around Beth’s own age. On closer inspection, Beth saw that the girl looked exactly like her, causing her mouth to fall open in surprise.

“Oh good, we’re all here.” A voice behind them said in an English accent.

All five turned to face the new arrival and Beth was stunned again by who she saw. It was a middle aged woman with two teens; one was a guy wearing tight jeans and a tank top and the other was another girl who was identical to Beth.

“Another one!?” Alison shrieked while her parents were standing stunned behind her.

“Bloody hell! Triplets?” Sarah yelled, rubbing her face with both hands.

Sarah stood disbelievingly, examining the new girl. She was dressed nicely in a charcoal pencil skirt and button up blue shirt. Her hair was pulled back in a bun and she looked entirely surprised. Felix nudged her with his elbow.

 “Holy shite, Sarah. They look exactly like you!” Felix exclaimed.

“Obviously, Fee.” Sarah quipped. “That would be the meaning of ‘identical’, now wouldn’t it?”

 “What’s your name, dear?” Mrs. S said, ignoring her children’s bickering.

“Beth.” She answered. “Elizabeth Childs.”

“Well, I’m Siobhan or Mrs. S, if you like.” The older woman replied. She nudged her daughter.

“Ease up, yeah?” Sarah complained to Mrs. S. She cleared her throat and spoke up. “I’m Sarah.”

“Felix.” Her brother announced, addressing everyone. “Foster brother.”

“Alison Hendrix.” Alison introduced herself. “These are my parents.”

Both Michael and Diane introduced themselves, giving basic pleasantries before exchanging looks.

“This is entirely strange.” Beth commented. “I came here to apply for the volunteer position; it’s good for community service hours, you know? I knew I was adopted but I certainly did not expect this.”

“So you knew that you were adopted?” Alison asked, shooting a look to her parents. They had the decency to look guilty.

“For a while now...” Beth said. “It’s just me and my dad now and he told me when I turned 12. But I had no idea that I may have… um, siblings.”

“Where is your father?” Mr. Hendrix asked. “I’m sure this situation is something he’ll want to be informed on.”

“He’s at work right now.” She told them. “He’s a lawyer so he’s pretty busy.”

“Why don’t we get your number?” Mrs. S suggested. “And we’ll give you ours. That way when one of us knows something we can get a hold of each other.”

“Well, what is there to know?” She asked, looking between them.

“Well, siblings are usually kept together, so knowing why you were separated would be one thing.” Mr. Hendrix said. “We called the adoption agency earlier today. Hopefully we will be getting an answer soon.”

Beth nodded, giving both her dad’s cellphone number along with her home phone. The adults converged to talk, leaving the teens to speak amongst themselves. Beth noticed that the boy linked his arm with the one girl who was wearing jeans and combat boots and dragged her forward.

“Well, hello twins.” He said cheerfully in and English accent. “Nice to meet you both.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Beth smiled. “Did you guys move here from England?”

“We did! It was probably about 4 and half years ago now.” He told her.

“That’s interesting. I’ve been here my whole life and I’ve never run into you.” Beth said.

“We usually tend to keep to ourselves.” Felix said.

“I can’t imagine why.” Alison grumbled. 3 heads snapped her way.

 “Oi! Can you just leave it?” Sarah snapped.

“What are you talking about?” Beth asked.

“Well, we’re only in this situation because our dear sister here is a criminal. They arrested me because they thought I was her!” Alison explained.

“Hey! Alison, was it?” Felix started, his eyes narrowing. “Why don’t you just stay out of it?”

“This is none of your business anyways.” Alison said, turning her nose up.

“It is my business.” He argued. “Sarah’s been my sister longer than she’s been yours and I will kick your bony arse if you talk anymore shit about her.”

“Sister?” Beth repeated.

“You’d kick a girl’s… but?” Alison asked.

“Why not? I can count as a girl.” He replied.

Beth was on the verge of laughing when the adults seemed to notice their argument. Each parent went to their respective kids, causing Alison and Felix to back off.

“Everything ok here?” Mr. Hendrix asked.

“Everything’s fine, dad. But maybe we should get going.” Alison lied.  “Beth, it was nice to meet you. Maybe we could get together later?”

“Sure, that would be nice.” She agreed.

The Hendrix family turned and left the police station, leaving the rest without another word. Beth didn’t know what had just transpired but she knew that it meant they would all be hanging out anytime soon. The detective who had been standing close by during the whole encounter stepped up to Beth.

“So I hear you wanted the student position?” He asked her.

“Oh, yeah. I plan on being a detective one day so I figured I should start now.” She said.

“A detective, really?” Mrs. S seemed impressed.

Beth nodded. She didn’t feel like going into her reasons at the moment.

“Well, we should get going but we should have you over for dinner one night.” The older woman said.

“Definitely .” Beth answered, waving goodbye to the other two.

Beth watched as they headed down the hallway. They were barely out of sight, though not out of earshot when they began talking.

“Would either one of you care to tell me why you were arguing with Alison?” Mrs. S asked.

“It was me, S” Beth heard Felix answer. “She was having a go at Sarah and I wasn’t going to stand for it!”

“Yeah, next time we have a ‘family outing’ you can leave me at home.” Sarah said glumly.

“Now that’s not fair, Sarah. They’re your family.” Mrs. S replied.

“I’m regretting ever wanting to meet my birth family.” She said solemnly.

“Oh don’t be like that, chicken.” Mrs. S said. “This new one seems like a nice girl.”

Beth wasn’t able to hear Sarah’s reply because the Lieutenant returned with the paperwork she was supposed to be filing out.

“I’d stay away from Manning if you plan to be a cop.” He said brusquely.

“What?” Beth asked, unsure if she heard correctly.

“Sarah Manning.” He repeated. “She’s a bad egg. You should stay away from her is you want to be a cop.”

“Oh.” She said lamely, not knowing what to say.

Once she was done filling out the application, Beth turned it in and thanked the Detective who promised to call her as soon as the background check cleared to set up a schedule. Beth left the station and headed home, anxious to speak with her dad.

* * *

 

She unlocked their 2 bedroom apartment and tossed her bags on the couch. Beth looked around the room, taking in the minimalist furniture and lack of personal touches that caused the apartment to feel cold. After her mother had died her father had moved them out of their house in the suburbs and into this apartment; that was when he had packed away anything that reminded him of her.

Beth immediately felt guilty. It wasn’t that her father ignored her; he just fell into his work as solace and never reemerged. This left Beth to pick up the slack around the house. She began making a quick dinner of pasta and chicken when her dad came in the door. They exchanged the usual greetings but Beth resolved to tell him the news as she set his dinner in front of him.

“So, something weird happened today.” She started, cutting up her chicken.

“What’s that?” He asked, putting down his fork to listen.

That was something about her dad that she loved. Richard Childs may have been all about his work, but he would always give Beth his full attention whenever he spoke with her.

“I went to the police station so that I could sign up for that community service position and something weird happened.” She said vaguely.

“Is everything alright?” He asked, worried by her evasiveness.

Beth stalled for a moment and looked over her dad appearance. He looked tired. The tie he was wearing was pulled loose, hanging from his neck around the grey suite he was currently wearing. His brown hair that he kept slicked back was sticking up in the back, an indicator that he had been rubbing the back of his head in frustration. Beth wished she had noticed this before; she hated adding to his stress but this wasn’t something she could handle on her own.

“Everything is fine.” She assured him before continuing. “But I found out today that I have 2 sisters.”

“What?” He asked, surprised.

“Yeah, not just sister, but identical twins; so I’m a triplet.” She told him.

“Honey, are you sure?” He asked her.

“Oh, I am sure.” She said emphatically. “These girls are, like, exact copies of me.”

“What? Who are they?” Her dad asked. “And they look exactly like you?”

“Sarah Manning and Alison Hendrix.” She said, trying to remember their last names. “And, yeah, I’m sure. Its my face but one has bangs, and the other dresses like she just left a rock concert.”

“Woah.” He sighed, leaning back in his chair.

“I met both of their parents.” Beth figured that it would best to tell him everything up front.

“What are they like?” Her dad inquired.

“Well, the Hendrix seem to be wound a little tightly wound but that might be because they just moved to the area.” Beth stated honestly. “And the other one, Sarah, I don’t think she was ever properly adopted. She lives with a foster brother and one woman, Mrs. S, but they didn't seem particularly close with the mother.”

“It seems your creepy observant skills came in handy today.” Her dad smiled.

Beth scowled. It was a running joke with him that her unusual observation skills were why she wanted to be a police officer.

“Anyways.” She continued doggedly. “They wanted to speak to you so I got everyone’s phone number. I guess they’re trying to find out a little bit about why we were split up. I told them we’d look into it too.”

“Did you want to look into it?” Her dad asked, concern knitting his brow.

He was thrown off guard by all the information his daughter was giving him. Finding out about the adoption had been difficult for her when she was younger; it made her question her place in their family in a time that was already difficult for them. He had needed to get her into therapy for deal with it. He worried that discovering her long lost sisters would cause her to question herself again.

Beth considered the situation for a moment.  Other than the extreme confusion she felt to finding out about her twins, Beth was slightly excited. She had felt a hole in her life after her mom had died, and the prospect of having more family than she had grown up with appealed to her.

“I want to look into it.” She decided.

“Alright then.” Her dad nodded. “I’ll give everyone a call and get started.”

Relieved, Beth gave her dad the numbers and they finished eating. He went to make the calls while she washed the dishes. Beth was on the computer when her dad knocked on her bedroom door.

“Come in.” She called. The door swung open.

“So I’ve made contact with everyone.” He said. “We’ve been invited for Dinner at the Hendrix house tomorrow night.”

“That’s cool.” She shrugged.

She wasn’t opposed to having dinner but was a bit nervous to get to know one of her sisters. Her dad said good night and Beth shut down her laptop, ready for bed, already looking forward to tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth digs deeper into why she and her sisters were given up.

Chapter 3

Alison headed to the foyer just as someone was knocking. Swinging the door open, she smiled at Beth and the man who must have been her father, ushering them inside.

"Welcome, please, come in." Alison greeted.

"Um… wow. You two do look alike." Beth's dad admitted.

"Just wait until you see all three of us." Beth commented.

"Yes, well… Sarah and her family will not be joining us." Alison said.

"What? Why?" Beth asked, taken aback.

"Oh you know. We thought it would be better to get to know each other if it was just our families." Alison replied.

Beth said nothing but followed her into the living room where Alison's dad was waiting. He smiled warmly to Beth and shook hands with her dad, offering him a drink.

"Michael Hendrix, nice to meet you." He said, smiling.

"Richard Childs." The other man nodded.

"Dinner's not quite ready if you girls want to head upstairs." Mr. Hendrix offered.

Alison looked over to Beth, who shrugged her agreement. The girls left, leaving the men alone.

"So, I'm sorry about that. I'd wanted invite Siobhan Saddler, that's the other one's foster mother, but the wife said no." Hr. Hendrix said.

"Any particular reason?" Mr. Childs asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"We moved here from Manhattan, which was were my wife grew up." He explained. "She's used to associating with people she considers higher class than Mrs. Saddler. I mean, I hate it but what can I do?"

"Are they that bad?" Richard asked.

"Not at all." He answered. "Siobhan is actually pretty funny. Plus she moved from the U.K. with two foster kids and had been raising them herself. Sure, the kids are a bit rough around the edges and I heard that Sarah's been into some trouble, but they seem like good kids."

Richard nodded. "Good to know."

* * *

 

Upstairs the girls were listening to music and chatting. Alison was surprised by how much she liked Beth. The other girl was smart, had direction for her life, and they had a lot in common as far as music and clothing style. Today both girls were wearing jeans and a blouse, one red and one blue, Alison in flats and Beth in heels.

"So what did happen between you and Sarah that I missed that first day?" Beth ventured, hoping for a straight answer.

"Oh my goodness, it was horrible." Alison exclaimed, launching into her story.

Beth listened carefully, taking note of things she wanted clarification on, and nodding her head to show she was listening. Alison talked very fast as she relived her arrest and subsequent, life-altering, discovery of a twin. Alison commented on Sarah's clothes, her defensive demeanor and her cursing. When Alison had finished with her story, Beth thought that she was being a tad dramatic; it hadn't been Sarah's fault on how the Police had treated her.

That thought made her frown. If that was how the patrolmen and detective treated people, she wasn't sure if she wanted to volunteer there. Maybe she should look to volunteering at another precinct.

"Beth? Are you listening?" Alison waved her hand in front of her face.

"Of course I am." She replied.

"Then what did I say?" Alison challenged.

"You asked what High School I went to." Beth answered correctly. Listening was thinking of over things was one of her skills. "It's the charter school in the city, by the way. Sheldon High."

"Ooh! That's the one I'm going to!" Alison cheered. "This will be so exciting!"

"Nice." Beth said genuinely. It would be nice to add another person to her small group of friends.

"Dinner's ready!" A voice from down the hall called.

The girls exited the bedroom and headed for the table, each girl sitting next to their parents. The adults chatted amicably during the meal, with the girls chiming in from time to time. Diane Hendrix occasionally made a comment comparing Beth to Sarah and talking about how much better behaved she must be. It was then Beth realized that Diana Hendrix was selfish, snobbish, and rude; it must have been where her daughter got it from.

At least Alison was as completely horrible as her mother was; she must get that from her dad, Beth thought.

Beth had been honest before, she was looking forward to going to school with Alison. Beth felt that with time, maybe Alison would loosen up. Once their dinner had been eaten and cake was served, Mr. Hendrix cleared his throat.

"So I received the files from the adoption agency today. It didn't turn up anything too remarkable." He said. "It had all the usual things, infant health work up, a family history from the mother, etc. No mention of siblings at all."

"Did it mention the mother or father?" Richard asked.

"Yes, it had info on the mother. Gave her name as Sandra Norby and had her filed consent to terminate parental rights." Michael shrugged.

"Well, I put in the request for Beth's files today so I should be receiving them soon. Maybe we'll get some answers then?" He replied.

The group parted for the night, the Childs' thanking their hosts for the wonderful meal and company. The drive home was silent for Beth, but not uncomfortably so. Beth bid goodnight to her dad and went to her room. Changing into her pajamas and crawling into bed, Beth wondered if they'd ever get to the bottom of things but she had to admit that she loved a good mystery.

* * *

 

Beth woke late the next morning from the house phone ringing. Groaning as she got out of bed, Beth padded down the hall to answer the phone.

"Hello?" She answered slowly.

"Yes, this is Lt. Detective Hardcastle looking for Elizabeth Childs." A gruff voice said.

"This is she." Beth answered, still not fully awake.

"I just wanted to let you know that your background check came out clean and I'd like for you to come down to the station to set up a summer schedule. Will you be free around 3 o'clock?" He continued.

Sighing, Beth answered. "Sure. Sounds good."

The doubts that had been raised the previous night were not forgotten, only pushed to the side. She figured that she would at least try to work there before deciding if she needed to switch to another station. Once Beth hung up the phone she decided to scrounge up some breakfast despite the fact that it was past 11 am. She was just about to sit down with a bowl of cereal when the phone rang again.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Beth, its Dad." Came from the other line. "You awake yet?"

"Just barely." She said, sitting on the couch with her cereal and the cordless.

"Ok, well wake up because you're going to want all your brain cells working on this one." Her dad said.

"Okay…" She said slowly.

"The adoption agency sent me your file." He started. "I was flipping through it when I saw that the name of your birth mother was Sandra White."

"What?" Beth asked. "Sandra, but that's…"

"That's what I said too so I got a hold of the Hendrix and had then scan me Alison's file. I'm emailing them to you. I want you to look at them." He said.

"Ok, let me grab my laptop." She rose from the couch and grabbing her laptop from her desk.

"Are you done?" Her dad asked.

"Yeah, I got it." She said, sitting back down on the couch.

Beth opened up a tab to her email and saw the file waiting in her inbox. Opening both files and minimizing them so that they could be viewed side by side, Beth began to scroll down.

"Let me know when you get to the parental right termination agreement." Her dad commented.

"Yeah, I'm there." She answered looking at the laptop. "Holy shit."

The name of her birth mother was different than the name on Alison's folder but when she looked at the signature on the bottom of the page, Beth gasped. The way the person signed the first name was identical in each file.

"So do you think that she took each of us to a different adoption agency and gave us up under a fake name?" Beth suggested.

"I think it may be possible." Her dad answered. "I've been doing some digging into the names but I've come up empty. There's a photo of her in your file."

"There is?" Beth scrolled through her file until she came to the picture.

It was a nervous looking woman holding a clipboard. She had a pale face and brown hair but looked entirely frazzled. The resemblance was hard to see, especially since Beth was having a hard time keeping the tears out of her eyes. Sniffling, Beth grabbed the phone that had fallen during her search.

"Uh, isn't there something we can search using the photo?" Beth asked.

Her dad sighed. "No. Only the police have access to a database of that kind."

"I just had the best idea." Beth said, standing up from the couch.

"What?" Her dad asked.

"I'll call you later." Beth said dismissively, hanging up the phone after she heard her dad reply with an 'Ok, bye.'

Beth hooked her laptop up to the printer in her dad's study and printed out the portion of the file with her mother's picture. While it was printing, Beth showered and changed into the outfit she was going to wear to the police station. Coming back into the study and grabbing the newly printed photo, Beth decided it was late enough to head down to the station.

Walking into the police station was pretty interesting when the people around you could hardly tell if you were a criminal, the one who wanted to sue, or the new student volunteer. Beth caught many people staring but she was determined not to let it bother her. Going up to Lt. Hardcastle's office, Beth knocked and waited to be let in. Moments later the gruff police lieutenant opened the door, surprised to see her.

"Childs, right?" He asked and Beth nodded. "You're a bit early. Ellen up front can help you with that schedule."

"Ok, great. But I was actually hoping you could help me with something." Beth started.

"Uh, what?" The old man huffed.

Beth dug in her purse for the photo. "Well, we're all stating to look into why we all had been separated and we were able to get this photo. It's a picture of the woman who gave me up for adoption."

"Oh, uh. That's real nice and all but-" He started.

"Yeah, the woman who signed the parental rights for Alison and I had the same first name but different last name, yet the signature on the parental right termination agreement was very similar." Beth continued.

"That's great but-" He tried to say.

"Yeah, so I was wondering if you could look into it; maybe use the facial recognition software to find out her real name so maybe we could start from there." Beth finished.

"Look, kid!" He shouted, finally able to get a word in edgewise. "That's all great but we can't use police resources to dig into people's private lives just because you ask me to. A crime has to have been committed."

"Well if this woman gave up three babies under different names, it would be fraud. She may have even kidnapped us first." She shrugged.

"My answer is no. Now if you still want to go get that schedule worked out, see Ellen. But I'll have no more about this." He said decisively.

"Alright." Beth agreed easily. It was time to see if her plan would work. "I have to hurry since I'm meeting the Hendrix' at my dad's office. You know, the big law firm downtown."

"What?" The lieutenant asked.

"Yeah, they wanted to talk to my dad about filing a case or something." Beth tried to sound causal. "I promised I would meet them there."

Beth turned and walked away, praying her hunch was correct. She was nearly around the corner when he called out to her.

"Wait a minute Childs!"

"Yes?" Beth said innocently.

"Look, maybe we can do some digging. If anything turns up we'll let you know." He agreed.

"That's great." Beth said sincerely.

"Yeah, yeah. Just be sure to tell everyone that we're looking." He waved her away.

Smiling brightly, Beth headed back to the front desk where Ellen was kind enough to set her up 3 days a week at the volunteer desk. Feeling pretty pleased with herself, Beth headed back home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some questions are answered here. Some Sarah angst.

* * *

“Beth that was reckless and stupid.” Alison reprimanded, trying to whisper.

“But it worked, didn’t it?” Beth said, rolling her eyes.

“Eh, I can’t believe you played a cop like that!” Sarah laughed. “Actually, with this lot? Yeah, I can believe it.”

“Hey, I just insinuated that helping us would make your parents drop whatever lawsuit they were planning.” Beth explained.

Alison scoffed but said nothing in response. Sarah laughed again, shoving her hands in her pockets and walking backwards so that she was facing her two sisters. Further ahead of the group was Alison and Beth’s fathers who were speaking with Mrs. S; Alison’s mother had opted to stay home. It was nearly a week after Beth had pulled her little stunt with the photo and they had finally received the call that there was something to report.

It was also the first time that Beth’s father had met Siobhan and Sarah. Richard Childs had been once again struck silent by the similarities between his daughter and Sarah. While you could tell Beth and Alison apart by Alison’s bangs, the only thing telling Beth and Sarah apart were they’re clothes.

The entire party was ushered into a conference room and asked to have a seat at the table. The girls sat with their respective parents, falling silent now that the information they had waited for was upon them. Eventually, someone entered the room; a man in his late 20’s with dark skin and a black hair and a charming smile. He was dressed in jeans and wearing a sweater vest which caused Sarah to snigger, but he wore a shield on his belt so that meant he was a detective.

“Hello, I’m Detective Raj Singh.” He introduced himself. “I’ve been assigned to your case.”

The group exchanged looks.

“We have a case?” Mrs. S asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, yes.” Detective Singh answered. “We ran the photo through the facial recognition program we have and came up with the name Sandra Toomes.”

“Another Sandra, go figure.” Mrs. S commented.

Everyone had been filled in on the Childs’ assumptions and had taken a turn viewing the photo that was in Beth’s file.

“Yes, there were no positive match with the other two last names with that face which means she used an alias at one adoption agency that we know of.” The detective said. “But there’s more.”

“Like what?” Mr. Hendrix asked, leaning forward in his seat.

“Well, this for starters.” The detective replied, handing out copies of a news clipping.

Everyone grabbed a copy of the paper and began reading.

_FIRST RECORDED SEXTUPLETS IN THE COUNTRY LIVE PAST 3 MONTHS_  
A New York state woman has given birth to the country’s first recorded  
all female sextuplets. The parents identified as Sandra and Jack Toomes had  
gotten more than she bargained for when her In Vitro Fertilization  
Treatments left her pregnant with 6 babies instead of one. “We’re  
definitely very pleased although we were shocked when we heard  
 the news.” The glowing mother reported. “Now it’s all just a balancing  
act.” Her husband added.

There was a picture beneath the clipping of the same woman in Beth’s photo with a smiling man, surrounded by 6 babies.

Each person around the table finished reading the news clipping at different times but once they were finished they sat back with the same shocked expression.

“Sextuplets…” Sarah repeated, sounding confused. “That’s 6 bloody babies!”

“6 babies, all girls.” Mrs. S whispered.

“That makes 5 sisters.” Beth concluded.

“Oh. Milanta.” Alison commented.

“Yeah.” Raj agreed, looking to all their awestruck faces. “That was pretty much our reaction too.”

“So what does this mean?” Richard Childs asked.

“Well, here’s where we ran out of facts so the next is merely guesswork.” Raj continued. “Our sourced do confirm that less than a year later, Mr. and Mrs. Toomes were divorced. I think it’s pretty clear what happened after that.”

“Which is?” Mr. Hendrix asked, his voice higher than usual.

“Well for whatever reason, she decided to put her babies up for adoption. It could have been too hard to care for that many children alone, pain from her ended marriage, we just don’t know.” Raj surmised. “But it’s obvious that she took all the babies to different adoption agencies around the area and used fake names in order to accomplish this.”

When nobody commented, the detective continued.

“Guess would be that giving up that many babies at once would raise a red flag or bring attention to herself. Maybe she wanted to avoid being recognized as the mother of the all-female sextuplets.” He shrugged.

Sarah swallowed hard as she processed the information she was hearing. She had parents, a mother and a father, but her father had chosen to walk away and her mother had separated Sarah from the few people who may have actually loved her.

“What about them?” Sarah asked, her voice cracking.

“Hm?” Raj asked, unable to hear her.

“Our biological parents, or whatever. Where are they?” Sarah clarified the information she was looking for.

The young detective shuffled his feet. “Well, Mr. Toomes has been deceased for the last 10 years; he died of a heart attack.” He explained. “And there has been no word of Sandra for at least the last five. No arrests, no tickets, no renewal of her driver’s license…”

“So no sign of the woman who dumped us. That’s what you’re getting at, yeah?” Sarah said, slightly irritated.

“Calm down, Sarah.” Mrs. S whispered to her.

Siobhan was well versed in Sarah’s inability to handle her emotions without lashing out. She was even more worried now that her young charge had learned what she had always feared; that she was unwanted by her birth parents.

“We do have other news.” Raj mentioned.

6 sets of eyes gazed up at the detective as if to ask ‘now what?’ He cleared his throat.

“We used the photo that was in Sarah’s file to search the database for your other siblings.” He said.

“Her mug shot, you mean.” Alison quipped, earning an icy glare from Sarah.

“That’s enough, Alison.” Her dad snapped.

Alison’s eyes widened in surprise but she remained silent. She looked over to Beth who shook her head. Realizing she would get no support here, Alison crossed her arms over her chest, pouting.

“What did you find?” Siobhan asked, figuring there was no easy way to bridge the tension.

“Yes, right.” Raj flipped through his notes again. “We found two other girls using their driver’s license. One Rachel Duncan, living in the Chicago area, and Cosima Niehaus, living in San Francisco. ”

He showed them a printout of the licenses. The first one was Rachel Duncan and showed a 16 year old girl with blonde hair that was cut into a sharp bob and an unamused look on her face. The second one was of a smiling Cosima Niehaus, wearing her long brown hair pulled back away from her face.

“So that makes 5.” Mrs. S counted. “I thought there was supposed to be 6?”

“These were the only ones we were able to find domestically.” Raj explained. “Since Sarah ended up in in England, we think there may be a chance the last twin may have ended up somewhere else. We’ve put in a request to the FBI to expand the search.”

“You can do that?” Beth asked.

“Yeah, this is one of the largest adoption frauds we’ve seen.” He said, almost excitedly. “The adoption agencies should have had background checks, copies of birth certificates, copies of driver’s licenses, anything to verify the parent’s identity.”

“So now what?” Beth asked, feeling overwhelmed.

“Well, since we are now making a formal investigation, we have to contact their adoptive families and research what agencies they came from. If you want the others to know any of your phone number or address, let us know wand we will make the proper arrangements.” He said.

The detective left them all with his card and told them to call if they needed anything.  One after the other, everyone filed out of the room and out to the parking lot.

“Anyone for pizza?” Mr. Childs asked, running a hand through his hair.

Mr. Hendrix agreed immediately but Mrs. S looked to Sarah.

“What do you think?” She asked.

“Yeah, pizza’s fine.” Sarah replied distantly.

“Looks like we’re in.” Siobhan answered, talking to the group.

Richard gave brief directions to a nearby restaurant and Siobhan and Sarah followed everyone over in the truck. They were seated quickly, ordering simply pepperoni pizza and drinks. Everyone remained quiet as they ate, seeming to know that everyone needed time to process. Eventually, Alison couldn’t take the silence.

“I can’t believe there are 5 of us. This is ridiculous.” She ranted, not knowing where else to start.

“For once, I agree with you.” Sarah said.

Beth nodded. From the moment this whole situation had arisen, it became more and more complicated. Try as the might to contain the weirdness; it was inevitable that it would now spread to their other sisters. The only question now was whether or not they wanted to meet each other.

“So did you guys want to meet them?” Beth tried to sound casual.

“They might not even want to meet us.” Alison said, shrugging.

“Maybe not; but I’d want that chance.” Beth said thoughtfully.

“I suppose.” Alison agreed.

“Oh, I don’t know…” Sarah trailed off. She was afraid of being rejected the way Alison treated her but seeing the looks on their faces made her relent. “Alright, alright. Yes, I’d want to meet them.”

“You ready to go?” Siobhan asked, coming up to the girl’s table.

“Yeah.” Sarah stood. “See you guys later.”

Back in the truck Mrs. S regarded Sarah carefully. She had seen such a difference in her these last few days but Siobhan wasn’t sure it was a change she preferred. Sarah was usually loud, stubborn, easy to anger, but full of life; now she was sullen, quiet and vulnerable. She hadn’t been spending time with Felix like she used to, preferring to sit in her room and blast her music. As a result, Felix had taken to spending more time outside of the house to occupy himself.

“So what do you think about all this, hm?” She asked Sarah as she drove.

“I don’t know what I think.” Sarah said quietly.

“Might be interesting to meet these new ones, yeah?” She pushed.

“Yeah, but they might end up being like Alison.” She sighed.

“Maybe not.” Mrs. S argued.

“But what if they are? What if they hate me? What if I find out that I’m the biggest screw up?” Sarah ranted, her fist clenched on her thighs.

“Is that what you’re worried about?” Siobhan asked, frowning. Sarah never opened up to her so if she was saying this now it meant that she was really torn up.

“I’m just saying, what if?” She asked brokenly.

Siobhan looked at her and knew that she was hurting. Unfortunately, Siobhan had never been the nurturing type. Sometimes she wondered what ever possessed her to become a foster parent. Knowing that she couldn’t let this question pass without giving Sarah an answer, Siobhan tried to think of something that wouldn’t completely disappoint her.

“Then screw the lot of them!” She said finally, hoping it was enough.

Sarah’s face split into a wide smile. “Yeah, screw ‘em!”

Sarah laughed and Mrs. S joined in; happy she hadn’t completely screwed this moment up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some angst here but we get to meet Cosima. Hope you all like it.

* * *

Cosima trudged up the driveway to her house, happy to see that a car was parked there. The sun was setting but the summer heat was still hanging around, causing her thick rimmed glasses to steam up around the edges.

Ever since her parents had caught her in the house kissing another girl, they had forbidden her to be alone at home. They had taken her house keys and Cosima had been left to trudge back and forth in the San Francisco heat until either her mom or dad got home from work. She had been spending most of her time at the public library, reading and enjoying the free air conditioning but it was tiring to wake up so early during her summer vacation.

Cosima entered the house to hear her mother cooking in the kitchen. Cosima passed right by without saying hello, going up the stairs and heading to take a shower. It was an unspoken rule that she wasn’t invited to dinner anymore. Her parents would eat together and leave her a plate on the counter for later.

Cosima had been feeling less connected to her parents and it didn’t help when she had figured out that she was adopted. It had been fairly easy to figure out once she realized the possibility existed. She had been 14, and had used a school science project as an excuse to take her parents blood samples as part of her project. With her findings in hand she had confronted them, to which they had guiltily admitted the truth.

As she washed her hair, she wondered how her life had gotten so off track. Her parents had always been loving and supportive when she was winning science fairs and getting straight A’s. They had quirked an eyebrow when she wanted to start wear more colorful clothing, cuter shoes, and heavy eyeliner but had allowed it. They had immediately said no when she had mentioned her desire to get dreadlocks.

Eventually she had figured out that she was attracted to girls but was so afraid to tell her parents that she ended up sneaking around with her first girlfriend. Kelly had introduced her to pot and the two had gotten high on numerous occasion. That day, they had gotten high and were making out in the living room when her dad had walked in, he had grabbed her around the arm and pulled her up from the couch, causing her to fall. The yelling had freaked out Kelly, who had left in tears, leaving Cosima to face the brunt of his insults alone.

When her mother had gotten home, it began all over again. They, thankfully, didn’t notice her drug use but it didn’t stop them from practically kicking her out. Eventually that plan had been thrown out because Cosima wouldn’t have had anywhere to go and her parents knew that turning a 16 year old girl out on the street was illegal. Crying and alone, her parents didn’t speak to her for days, simply making disgusted noises and shaking their heads when she came into the room. When she returned to school, Kelly had informed her that she didn’t want to deal with Cosima and her drama, leaving her heartbroken. It had been a month of silence and Cosima didn’t know how she was going to make it through the next 2 years.

Stepping out of the shower, Cosima grabbed her glasses from the counter and ran to her room with the towel wrapped around her. She was dressed in her pajamas and headed downstairs to grab her dinner. Sitting alone at the table, she quickly ate her chicken and rice.

“Cosima?” Her father’s voice sounded calm as he came into the kitchen.

“Uh, yeah?” She said warily. This was the first time in a while that they had started a conversation with her.

“Your mother and I received a phone call a few days ago.” He started. “It was regarding an investigation about your birth parents.”

Cosima stopped eating. “What?”

“Yeah, I didn’t ask for all the details but the short of it is that you have siblings.” He told her.

“What?” Cosima repeated.

“Yeah, sisters, apparently. They wanted to know if you wanted to go meet them and your mother and I thought it would be a good idea to get you out of the house.” He said.

“Oh.” She said, finally realizing what this was about.

“One of the parents is a foster parent and she already agreed to have you stay with her.” He slid a plane ticket over to her. “You leave the day after tomorrow so you should probably start packing.”

Cosima watched as he stood and left her alone in the kitchen. They were getting rid of her, for a while at least. She felt tears welling up in her eyes but she angrily brushed them away. Leaving her plate half eaten, Cosima went to her room and began throwing her clothes into her suitcase. If this was the way they wanted things then fine; she’d go.

* * *

The next two days passed quickly in the same silence that she had become accustomed to. Her mom had helped her into the airport with her luggage so that she could check in but then had left quickly with only a halfhearted goodbye; it chaffed that her father hadn’t said goodbye.

The flight was long, the book she had in her carry-on the only thing occupying her. Before Cosima knew it, she found herself departing from the plane. She was dragging a rolling suitcase behind her and was headed to baggage claim to pick up her larger luggage. Cosima didn’t know exactly who she was supposed to be looking for, only that their name was Siobhan Sadler. Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she spun around to see a middle-aged woman with dark hair.

“Cosima?” She asked, smiling.

“Uh, hi, yes.” She answered, trying to match her smile. She reached out and shook the older woman’s hand.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Siobhan, or Mrs. S, if you prefer.” She said in an English accent. “I’m sure you’re tired after your flight so why don’t we head home, hm?”

“Sure.” Cosima answered as Mrs. S grabbed her luggage from the conveyer belt. “Oh, you don’t have to!”

“Nonsense.” Siobhan waved her.

They found their way out of the airport and to Mrs. S’ truck. Tossing her things in the bed of the truck, Cosima climbed up into the front seat. They wove their way into the traffic surrounding the airport as Mrs. S began to talk.

“So Sarah is waiting at the house but you’ll be meeting the other two girls tomorrow.” She explained.

“Wait, there’s more than one?” Cosima asked, confused.

“Didn’t your folks explain what’s going on?” She raised her eyebrows.

Cosima shook her head no. “My parents have been pretty busy. There wasn’t much time for explanations.” She invented.

“Hm.” Siobhan whispered, not quite believing that was the whole story.

Siobhan thought back to the phone call she had received last week.

_“Hello, is this Siobhan Sadler?” A male voice asked from over the line._

_“This is she.” Siobhan stopped what she was doing and repositioned the cordless._

_“Hello, this is William Niehaus. I received the call from Detective Singh about Cosima’s biological sisters and he said to call if we had any more questions.” He said, his voice sounding slightly far off._

_“Of course.” She answered. “There is still much we don’t know ourselves but I’d be happy to try and help.”_

_“Well I was just wondering if this meant her birth parents were asking for them?” He sounded oddly hopeful. “Does this mean the adoptions are invalid?”_

_“Uh, well no.” She said slowly. “Nothing like that. The adoptions are not in question. I thought the detective would have made that clear."_

_“He did.” He answered. “But they wanted to meet?”_

_“Well, the girls are curious about their sisters; which is only natural.” Siobhan said. “I suppose they were wondering if she would like to meet them as well.”_

_“Well the wife and I can’t get any time off at the moment.” He said. “It would have been perfect since Cosima is on summer break at the moment.”_

_Siobhan rolled her eyes. She could tell he was fishing for her to offer a solution. She could easily take in another person for a time; the guest room was currently filled with boxes but that could be easily remedied. She thought about Sarah’s reservations about meeting her other twins but knew that this may be something that would help Sarah. Making up her mind, Siobhan decided to give him what he had been fishing for._

_“I suppose Cosima could stay with us for a while, since you can’t make it out.” She offered._

_“Really? That would be amazing! I know Cosima would really enjoy it.” He said emphatically._

_They chatted for a few minutes and made the arrangements for Cosima to stay with Siobhan for 2 weeks but Siobhan had hung up the phone feeling a bit uneasy about William Niehaus._

“Well I suppose that explains the phone call.” She mumbled. “So they didn’t tell you anything?”

“My dad mentioned I had a sister…” She trailed off.

“Not just one sister, 5 sisters.” She explained.

“Did you say 5?!” Cosima exclaimed.

Siobhan nodded. “Yes, all identical. All separated and adopted out. I have Sarah and through a misunderstanding, we met Alison and then Beth. That’s when the police began investigating. They searched and found you and another sister, named Rachel. They’re still looking for the last sister.”

“So everyone else is here?” She asked.

“Well, Alison and Beth live nearby but we haven’t heard anything from the sister who lives in Chicago.” She shrugged.

“Holy watershed.” Cosima mumbled.

“That was pretty much our reaction.” Siobhan laughed.

Cosima was quiet for the remainder of the drive; trying to process. She had been fantasizing what her sister would be like and now she finds out she would be meeting 3 sisters. 20 minutes later, the truck parked next to a brown townhome. They exited the truck, each grabbing one of Cosima’s bags and walking into the house.

“Sarah, Felix, we’re back!” Siobhan shouted up the stairs.

“Yeah, um. Felix sorta left.” A voice shouted back from upstairs.

“What do you mean?” Siobhan asked suspiciously. “Sarah, where’d he go?”

“Yeah, he said something about followin’ some band around for the week.” Sarah voice was calm.

“That bloody pain in my-” Siobhan cut herself off. "He's 14 for christ-sakes!"

This sounded like it was leading into an argument and Cosima wondered if she try and find somewhere to set her things down. She was still searching for an escape when she heard someone coming down the stairs.

“I told him you’d say that but he said he’d rather ask for forgiveness than permission.” Sarah laughed. Seeing Cosima standing next to Mrs. S, she cleared her throat. “Hello, I’m, uh, Sarah.”

Cosima had been staring, her mouth hanging open. Sarah looked exactly like her and it was freaking her out. She was dressed in dark jeans and a t-shirt and had her hair down. Sarah raised an eyebrow, waiting for Cosima to answer which snapped the new girl out of her stupor.

“Hi, I’m Cosima.” She introduced herself, her hands waving around in their usually fashion. “It’s, like, really nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, same here.” Sarah said. “S, what should we do about dinner?”

“Pizza seem alright with the two of you?” Siobhan asked.

Sarah only looked to Cosima for an answer.

“Pizza is great.” Cosima answered. “Pepperoni?”

“Sounds good to me.” Sarah replied.

“Sarah, why don’t you help Cosima unpack while I make the call?” Siobhan suggested.

“Sure, this way.” Sarah grabbed the bag that was on the floor and headed back up the stairs. “This is my room, Fee’s room, S’s room, and… you’re room. There’s another room downstairs but S uses that for a den or whatever.”

Sarah pushed the door open and let Cosima enter first. The room was small, housing only a full sized bed, a dresser and a desk, but it had enough windows to give the space an open feel and it was clean and well organized.

“Thanks, this is great.” Cosima said sincerely.

“Yeah, we cleaned it out yesterday.” Sarah sighed, putting the bag on the bed. “There’s extra pillows and blankets in the hall closet. Same with the towels. One bathroom in the hall with a shower, but there’s another toilet downstairs.”

“Thanks.” Cosima repeated.

Sarah nodded but didn’t answer. Cosima had turned away to rummage through her suitcase so Sarah used this opportunity to examine her new sister. She was wearing a skinny jeans, a red tank top and had a knit scarf hanging from her shoulders. The look was rounded out with a several dangling bracelets and a pair of converse exactly like the pair Sarah had in her own room. Other than the glasses and dark eyeliner, there was not much else to tell the two apart. She did seem more relaxed than Beth or Alison, making Sarah hopeful that maybe this sister wouldn’t be a dud.

“So, I’ll just be in my room then.” Sarah nodded her head in the direction of her room. “Let me know if you need anything.”

Cosima watched as she disappeared into the other room. Since she was going to be there for a while, Cosima decided to unpack. She stuffed all of her clothes in the dresser or hung them up in the closet, stuffing her suitcase under the bed. The other bag she had contained her laptop, iPod, various books and comics, as well as her Nintendo Ds and her games. She had brought one blanket from home, a knitted, multi-colored, throw with frayed edges that her grandma had knitted.

Spreading the blanket out on the bed, Cosima glanced around to admire her handiwork. Her laptop and games were set up on the desk; she made a mental not to ask about an internet connection later. She had her books stacked on top of her dresser and her shoes were scattered over the floor from where she had discarded them earlier. Overall, the room felt a bit homier.

“Girls, dinner!” Siobhan called from downstairs.

Leaving the room, Cosima headed out into the hall but paused by Sarah’s door. There was muffled music coming from inside and she wondered if Sarah had even heard. Knocking, Cosima stepped back as the door swung open. Sarah appeared, confused to see Cosima so soon.

“Uh, dinner’s here.” Cosima pointed towards the stairs.

“Oh right.” Sarah said, turning to turn off her stereo.

Cosima caught a glance of the room. The bed pulled up against the wall to give the room more space, band posters covered the walls, a shelf full of CDs was up against another wall, and a desk with an ancient computer sat by the wall closest to the door.

“Cool room.” Cosima commented as Sarah joined her out in the hallway.

“Really?” Sarah asked as Cosima nodded. “Thanks.”

“Are you two coming or do I have to send out a search party?” Mrs. S called again.

Sarah rolled her eyes and headed down the stairs, Cosima right behind her. The each sat at the table, helping themselves to a slice of pizza and the cans of soda that Mrs. S had put on the table.

“So, Cosima why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself?” Siobhan asked, settling back on her seat.

“Uh, there’s not much to tell.” She said, shrugging.

“There has to be something.” Siobhan laughed. “What have you been doing during the summer?”

Cosima thought back to her lonely summer spent mostly in the library. She didn’t really feel like sharing but she knew it would be rude to ignore the question.

“I, uh-.” She started, staring down at the table.

“Maybe we can leave off the interrogation until tomorrow, yeah?” Sarah interrupted. “I’m sure she’s gonna get enough of it tomorrow.”

Siobhan traded a look with Sarah before catching on. “I suppose you’re right. Well, I’m going to head off to bed now. I have work in the morning so it will just be the two of you until I get home. Try not to burn anything down, Sarah.”

“You accidently leave a fork in the microwave one time…” Sarah muttered, shaking her head.

Cosima laughed, a rush of affection for Sarah bubbling up thanks to her intervention. She knew this was a topic she couldn’t avoid, but Cosima appreciated not having to deal with it right now. Siobhan wished them goodnight, climbing the stair and leaving the girls alone. She stayed seated while Sarah cleared the dishes.

“I think I’m going to head to bed too; traveling takes it out of me.” Cosima said.

Sarah nodded. “That’s cool. Night.”

“Thanks for earlier.” Cosima mumbled.

“Yeah, no worries.” Sarah smiled. “I hate it when people pry into my life.”

“Yeah,” She replied. She was heading up the stairs before remembering information she needed. “I do have one question, though.”

“What’s that?” Sarah said distractedly, putting away the rest of the pizza.

“What’s the wifi password?” Cosima asked seriously.

“Oh, that.” Sarah rolled her eyes. “324B21.”

“324B21?” She repeated.

Sarah nodded.

“Great, thanks!” Cosima ran up the stairs.

Sarah watched her go before settling onto the couch to watch TV. Secrets aside, Sarah was glad there at least one sister she liked. She just hoped that Alison wouldn’t ruin it tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family dinner. These usually don't end well.

Chapter 6

Cosima woke gently, the light streaming in from the windows barely hitting her face. She groped around for her glasses, trying to remember where she had left them the night before. She found them eventually and shoved them onto her face, still slightly disoriented. She made her way to the bathroom, not even stopping when she bumped into the doorframe and nearly stumbled.

When she had finished, Cosima washed her face to wake herself up. She could hear noise filtering up the stairs, a muffled speaking voice followed by a laugh track. She headed downstairs, following the noise to find Sarah lying down on the couch, fully dressed, and watching TV. When she was spotted, Sarah laughed.

"You alive then?" She joked, taking in Cosima's disheveled hair and pajamas.

"What time is it?" Cosima asked.

"It's just after 12 o'clock." Sarah checked the clock.

"Whoa, must be jet lag." She replied, plopping herself down on the couch and yawning. "It'd only be 9 am at home."

"There's cereal if you want any or left over pizza if you wanted lunch." Sarah offered.

"Thanks." Cosima headed to the kitchen to pour herself a bowl of cereal.

Cosima ate her breakfast while Sarah watched her reality courtroom drama. When she was done with her cereal, Cosima washed her dish and left it on the drying rack. Seating herself back on the couch, Cosima watched as Sarah flipped through the channels. They didn't talk much but it was nice just to have somebody to lounge around with.

4 pm rolled around and they were currently watching Spongebob Squarepants and munching on chips. It had been forever since Cosima was able to spend all day in her pajamas. She knew they were due at dinner in the next few hours but she was having trouble finding the motivation to move. After another half hour passed, she could postpone it no longer.

"I guess I should go get dressed." Cosima said, already standing. "Not much sense in dressing twice at this point. I may as well put on what I'm gonna wear to dinner."

"I guess we're going somewhere nice. Just so you know." Sarah told her. "Mrs. S already told me I couldn't wear jeans."

"Oh, ok. Thanks." She replied.

Cosima picked out her outfit based on tonight's dinner. It was a red sweater dress, black tights, a scarf, and a pair of boots. Content with what she was wearing; Cosima grabbed one of her books and lay down on her bed. She was startled a while later by a knock at the door.

"I'll be right there!" She called, opening the door.

"Hey, Mrs. S is here and she wants to know if you're ready." Sarah said from the hallway.

Sarah was wearing a red tank that revealed a dark camisole underneath, a short black skirt, black tights and a pair of combat boots.

"Oh, I just have to do my hair." She leaped up from the bed and rushed to put her hair in a bun.

They headed down the stairs. Mrs. S waiting by the door wearing slacks and a button down shirt. When she saw Sarah she rolled her eyes.

"That is hardly dinner appropriate." She scolded as Sarah walked out the door.

"You said no jeans." Sarah reminded her.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get in." Siobhan rolled her eyes.

They all squeezed into the front seat, Siobhan driving with Sarah in the middle and Cosima up against the door. As soon as they pulled away Sarah began fiddling with the radio until she found a song she liked.

"So… What are the others like?" Cosima asked tentatively.

"Uh…" Sarah hesitated.

Sarah knew that it was inevitable that Cosima would get to meet their other sisters. It was foolish to try and hide what she knew.

"Well, Beth wants to be a cop when she's older." Sarah offered. "And Alison… well, Alison is sort of intense."

"That's it?" Cosima asked.

"Uh, yeah. You know we haven't really hung out much yet. It's all really new." Sarah shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh, look! We're here." Siobhan interjected.

Cosima was quiet as they parked. She had a feeling that they were hiding something from her but couldn't really tell what. They entered the restaurant, which was some over-priced Italian place, and found that everyone was already seated.

"Hello, everyone. Good to see you." Siobhan said first. She pushed Cosima forward a bit. "This is Cosima. She flew in yesterday from San Francisco."

"Uh, hi." Cosima waved.

"Cosima, this is Beth and her dad, Richard Childs." Siobhan called out the names to the five seated at the table. "That's Alison and her parents Michael and Diane Hendrix."

Cosima looked over the others. Beth was dressed in slacks, her brown hair worn down around her face. Her dad was in a blue suit but he gave her a thumbs up. Alison was a surprise, sitting up perfectly straight, the fringe bangs and strained expression the only difference between the other girls. Cosima could tell where Sarah had gotten her description of 'intense'. Alison's mom wearing the same strained smile as her daughter but her dad smiled in a reassuring sort of way. Cosima ended up seated next to Beth and Sarah, and seated across from Alison. They made small talk until the salad and breadsticks arrived and everyone put in their order. It was then that the interrogation began.

"So, Cosima, what do your parents do?" Mr. Hendrix asked over a forkful of salad.

"Oh, my mom is a nurse and my dad work in accounts payable for a credit company." She explained.

"And what have you been doing this summer? Alison hasn't had a chance to do much, what with the move and all." His wife added.

"Yeah, I've just been hanging out around town; just trying to keep out of the house." Cosima twisted the truth.

There were several more perfunctory questions about her family, thankfully, as an only child with no extended family killed that line of questions. The focus of the conversation was turned away from Cosima and more towards what the other girls planned to do with their summer break. Alison was all for getting together a few times before Cosima had to return home and was willing to include her in the plans she already had with Beth.

"Cosima, we were planning to go to the mall tomorrow, if you wanted to join us." Alison offered.

"You both should." Beth interjected, glancing at Sarah. "I have a car. I can pick you up."

"Oh, uh…" Cosima hesitated. The mall wasn't really her thing.

"Thanks, but no, thanks." Sarah said coldly, shooting a dirty look at Alison.

Cosima gazed curiously at Sarah, not sure what she had missed. Sarah was glaring, anger rolling off her in waves, but Beth and her father just seemed confused. Finally, Mrs. S spoke.

"Sarah can't go to the mall; I thought you would have remembered that." She said coolly.

"Why's that?" Beth asked curiously.

"I'm going to the bathroom." Sarah said loudly.

She didn't wait for an answer, leaving the table as quickly as possible. An uncomfortable silence descended on the table.

Cosima was confused; she felt like she was missing something. Looking over to the adults, she saw the Mrs. S and Mr. Hendrix were looking disapprovingly at Alison. Alison's mom had a smug smile on her face and Alison seemed to find something funny.

"What am I missing?" Beth asked, looking between Alison and the adults.

"Sarah's banned from the mall." Siobhan said, rising from the table to follow her daughter.

"Criminal." Alison muttered under her breath, laughing to herself.

She planned this, Cosima realized. Alison had planned this to humiliate Sarah in front of her and Beth. She had wanted to show that there were things Sarah couldn't do, make her seem less than the others.

"Fucking bitch." Cosima whispered too low for anyone to hear.

"Alison, was that about the wrongful arrest thing?" Beth asked quietly.

"What? I didn't know that she was banned from the  _entire_  mall." She said innocently.

"Alison." Beth said, disappointed.

"I'm going to have a long talk with you when we get home." Mr. Hendrix whispered to his daughter.

Sarah and Siobhan returned, sitting back down. Sarah's eyes were red and she was scowling but other than that she looked alright. Dinner was tense after that. Their food came and everyone ate silently, shooting worried glances at each other.

Once dinner was over, Siobhan led Sarah to the car, an arm wrapped around her shoulders. Cosima said goodbye to Alison who was immediately dragged away from by her father, a lecture already started. Beth walked up to Siobhan's truck, waving over both Sarah and Cosima.

"Hey, I just wanted to let you know that we can still do something tomorrow." She offered. "Maybe we could do a movie instead."

"I don't know if I'll be up for another family outing tomorrow." Sarah shook her head.

Beth looked to Cosima.

"I had kinda planned to hang around the house tomorrow." Cosima admitted. "Jet lag is still kicking my ass. I mean, I didn't get up until, like, noon today."

"Ok, well how about the day after?" Beth asked. "Maybe just the 3 of us?"

Cosima traded a hopeful with Sarah and shrugged.

"Sure, sounds like a plan." Sarah sighed.

"Great. I'll call you later." Beth said, running to join her dad.

"You can't blame Beth for something that Alison does, Sarah." Siobhan said as they got into the vehicle. "She seems to be trying."

"Yeah, I know." Sarah said sullenly.

When they got home, Sarah went straight to her room leaving Siobhan and Cosima alone.

"Is she going to be ok?" Cosima asked, pushing up her glasses.

"Sarah just needs sometime to herself." Siobhan said thoughtfully. "She's been through a lot in the last few months."

"What were they talking about earlier?" Cosima asked hesitantly.

"Oh, it was juvenile." Siobhan sighed. "Sarah was caught shoplifting and then pulled the fire alarm to escape the security guards. She was arrested but we were able to work it out. She's not allowed in the mall until her restraining order expires but she hasn't been any trouble since then."

"Wow." Cosima said, taking in the new information.

"Sarah has always been very angry. Before she came to me, Sarah was bounced around a lot." Mrs. S explained. "She's a good girl; she just doesn't know how to deal with her anger in a… productive way. Runs in the family, I suppose."

Cosima nodded. "Ok, well I'm going to bed."

"Ok, goodnight." Mrs. S answered.

Climbing the stairs, Cosima could hear muffled music coming from Sarah's room. She decided to take Siobhan's advice and give her some space, heading directly into her room. Cosima grabbed her laptop from the desk, getting into bed and balancing the laptop on her legs, she settled in for a long night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I don't know how I feel about this one, guys. I've been holding onto it in case I had a brainwave and needed to change something but I think this is about as finished as it's gonna get. I hope you guys enjoys it. *shrugs*

Chapter 7

Alison was being stubborn. Her father hadn’t stopped lecturing her after the previous night’s dinner. He had gone on for several hours about the inappropriate way she had handled dinner. In fact, her father hadn’t stopped until her mom had gotten involved, which had resulted in her parents fighting.

Alison was used to her parent’s arguments by now; they had been sniping at each other more since they had moved. When the screaming had stopped, her dad had come into her room to let her know that he expected her to apologize to Sarah next time she saw her. Alison had rolled her eyes but agreed, placating her dad.

She dreaded having to apologize but knew that her dad wouldn’t drop it until she did. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel bad. In fact, she had regretted her words once Sarah had returned; eyes red and silent. She had hated the looks that she had gotten from Beth, Cosima, and her father, feeling as if she had thoroughly put her foot in her mouth in front of her new sisters; definitely not what she wanted to accomplish.

Alison was currently at home, waiting for Beth to come pick her up.  The other girl had called ahead to let her know that she would be over after her 3 hour shift at the police station. A knock on the door alerted Alison to Beth’s arrival. Grabbing her purse, Alison exited the house to see Beth dressed casually in jeans and a tank top.

“Beth! Did you dress like that to your shift?” Alison asked curiously.

“No!” Beth snorted. “I changed before I left. Come on, we’re burning daylight.”

They got settled in the car, Beth setting the radio to a top hits station before pulling away from the curb.

“So what have you been up to all day?” Beth asked.

“I was unpacking the last of the house.” Alison said, fixing her bangs in the fold down mirror. “How was the station?”

“Amazing!” Beth exclaimed.

“Really? I would have thought answering phones had been boring.” Alison said.

“Well, yes. My job is boring.” Beth clarified. “But there’s so much going on that it’s still super exciting.”

Beth launched into a story about the ring of drug dealers the police had busted that day. Alison listened politely, gasping at the appropriate parts and laughing on cue. The police work didn’t interest her but the way Beth talked about it was amusing. It was obvious that Beth would love being a cop; Alison admired her for that.

They parked and walked in to the mall, still chatting animatedly. Alison picked a store to enter, happy to have someone with her since last time ended in such a fiasco. Alison flitted from store to store, buying several outfits and shoes. They were only bothered once, a security guard approached Beth, calling for Sarah Manning.

“I’m sorry, that’s not my name.” Beth said, smiling. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her ID. “Here’s my driver’s license.”

Hearing Beth from around the corner Alison headed towards them.

“Everything alright?” Alison asked nervously, standing next to Beth.

“Oh, Alison! There you are!” Beth said extra cheerfully.

The security guard’s eyes widened as he looked between the two of them.

“Uh, I’m sorry. I must have the wrong person.” He stammered, backpedalling.

They watched as he practically ran out of the store, tripping over a display of t-shirts. Beth busted up laughing and despite her nerves, Alison found herself chuckling. Alison went to the register to pay for the 3 pairs of fitness pants she had found.

“What? They’re on sale!” Alison said seeing the look of Beth’s face.

“Well, that was intense.” Beth laughed as they left the store.

“That went much better than last time.” Alison commented, her heartbeat returning to normal.

“I’ve heard.” Beth said dryly. “But come on; the store I have to go is right here.”

Alison led Beth led her through the crowd when a thought popped into her head.

“How have you not been mistaken for Sarah before?” She asked.

“Oh, I never come to the mall.” Beth answered. “I’m more of an online shopper.”

“But then why would you suggest we come shopping?!” Alison wondered.

“This is why.” Beth said vaguely.

They were headed toward a sporting goods store. Alison was still puzzled over how someone could dislike the mall but followed Beth into the sport store without complaint. They headed straight for the shoe department, Beth scanning the rows of boxes intently.

“You need shoes?” Alison asked.

“Running shoes.” Beth answered. “My old ones are getting pretty bare and I’ll have to break in the new set before the season starts.”

“Season?” Alison asked curiously.

“Yeah, I run cross country in the fall and track in the spring.” The other girl explained. “I love to run.”

“That’s impressive.” Alison said.

“Do you play anything?” Beth asked, pulling a box from, the shelf and looking for a place to sit.

“I used to play soccer when I was younger, and ballet.” She explained. “But I stopped both once high school started. I wanted to focus on my studies.”

“That’s cool.” Beth said. “Well, I’m ready to buy these so…”

“Already?” Alison gasped. “You tried on one pair!”

“I usually know what I’m looking for.” She smiled, making her way to the register. “Want to get something to eat after this?”

Alison nodded. “Sure.”

Beth quickly paid for her new shoes, thanking the cashier. The two girls headed to the food court, separating to buy their lunches before meeting at a small table. Alison placed a salad on the table while Beth had a platter from Panda Express. They ate quietly, Alison’s bags scattered on the floor. Eventually, Beth decided to bring up a topic that she had been avoiding since this morning.

“So are you ever gonna lay off Sarah?” Beth said bluntly. “Because it will be really awkward to never hang out with more than one of you at a time.”

Alison rolled her eyes. “I had planned to apologize next time I saw her. But seriously, do you honestly feel like you can trust her? The girl is a criminal! She got me arrested!”

“Alison, I get where you’re coming from.” Beth said, leveling Alison with a serious look on her face. “But what you did last night was cruel.”

“So I’m just supposed to forget everything that happened to me?” Alison asked, her voice raising slightly.

“Alison, none of that was Sarah’s fault!” Beth exclaimed. “You can’t punish her for something she had nothing to do with.”

Alison drew back, stung by the bluntness of Beth’s statements. It was one thing to hear it from her dad but another thing to hear it from Beth. She would never admit it, but the tight knit group of friends she had back in New York hadn’t even bothered to return her calls since her family had moved. Beth was the only friend Alison had in this town since she had moved. She didn’t understand why Beth cared so much about whether she and Sarah got along but it was evident that this wasn’t something that was going to go away; the last thing she wanted was to push away her only friend.

“Come on can you try and imagine what it must have been like to be bounced around? We, at least, had one set of parents.” Beth sighed.

Alison scoffed. “Everyone has problems, you can’t blame everything on the fact that she didn’t have parents.”

“No, but it certainly didn’t help.” Beth said, focusing back on her food.

Alison pondered that for a moment. Sarah did say that she had only been adopted when she was 8 years old. By the time Alison was 8, her parents were attending every game, every recital, and every back-to-school night. What would she have been like without that? Then again, her parents had always been there and now the two of them couldn’t stay in the same room without biting each other’s heads off; parents weren’t exactly all they were cracked up to be.

“Alright.” She sighed. “From now on I will make a conscious effort to be nice to Sarah.”

“That’s good; because I had planned to go to the movies tomorrow with Sarah and Cosima.” Beth sipped her soda. “Maybe you should come.”

“You think they’re going to agree to that?” Alison scoffed.

“We can try.” Beth smiled.

* * *

The next morning found Beth sprawled across Alison’s bed. Alison had been a little scandalized when Beth had let herself into the room and threw herself on her nicely made bed but she had let it slide, not wanting to start the visit by nagging her.

“I think we should call them now.” Beth suggested.

Alison glanced at the clock. It was currently 11:30 in the morning which meant that the others were probably awake.

“Fine.” Alison sighed, running to grab the cordless phone from downstairs.

She handed the phone to Beth and watched as the girl grabbed a scrap of paper with several numbers written on it. It’d be convenient to have cell phones, Alison thought idly as Beth dialed.

“It’s ringing. Here, I’ll put it on speaker phone.” Beth clicked the button.

“ _Hello?_ ” A voice answered.

There was a slight accent so Alison assumed it was Sarah.

“Is this Sarah?” Beth asked.

“ _Yeah_.” Sarah answered.

“Ok, cool. It’s Beth.” She replied. “Hey, I was just wondering if we were still on for a movie today.”

“ _I’m down but let me check with Cosima_.” Sarah said. “ _She’s still sleeping_.”

“Ok, great.” Beth said. “So while you’re doing that let me tell you that I’m sitting here with Alison and she had something she wanted to tell you.”

“ _You what?_ ” Sarah gasped.

“Here.” Beth handed the phone to Alison.

“What am I supposed to do?!” Alison asked, grabbing the phone and covering the mouthpiece with her hand.

“Apologize.” Beth prompted. “Then ask if you can go with us.”

“Ugh, fine.” Alison removed her hand from the phone. “Sarah, I just wanted to apologize for what happened the other night. It was completely rude and it won’t happen again. I swear.”

I probably didn’t sound like the most sincere apology, Alison saw Beth roll her eyes, but it was the most she could muster up at the moment. There was silence on the other line so Alison continued.

“I was hoping that, maybe, I could join you guys today.” Alison said slowly.

More silence followed and Alison was beginning to get uncomfortable. Did Sarah hang up? Alison looked to Beth, who merely shrugged. Alison considered the idea of Sarah blowing off Beth because of this and felt guilty.

“Look, if you’re not comfortable, I don’t have to-” Alison rushed to uninvited herself from the movie.

“ _Yeah, ok_.” Sarah said quietly, interrupting her. “ _Just forget it_.”

Alison’s eyes widened. She had been expecting some snarky remark or some insults to be thrown at her by the other girl. Beth shrugged in an ‘I told you so’ kind of way and smiled.

“So is it cool if Alison comes with us?” Beth asked.

“ _Uh, yeah, that’s fine. But she’s paying for the tickets!_ ” Sarah tacked on as an afterthought.

Alison rolled her eyes. “Fine!”

Both Sarah and Beth laughed.

“ _Alright, now that that’s settled_.” Sarah started. “ _One second_.”

They could hear a knocking come through the phone and hear as Sarah was shouting.

“ _Oi! Cosima! Wake up, it’s nearly noon!_ ” Sarah yelled.

 They heard more knocking followed by a distinct thud. Beth and Alison exchanged worried looks.

“ _What?_ ” They heard another voice whine from the other line.

“ _Beth and Alison want to know if we want to go to a movie_.” They heard Sarah tell the other girl.

“ _Alison?_ ” Cosima whispered, surprised.

“ _Yeah, she’s paying!_ ” Sarah laughed.

“Is that alright, Cosima?” Alison asked.

“ _Yeah, but I have one question.”_ She said seriously. “ _Can we get snacks?_ ”

Alison chuckled. “Fine, snacks too!”

“Cool!” Beth exclaimed. “We’ll be by to pick you up in 30 minutes.”

Beth took down the address and hung up the phone. She rolled off the bed, landing on her feet and practically jumping back up.

“I guess we’re leaving now?” Alison asked, amused by her twin’s restless energy.

“Yup, let’s go.” Beth called, already halfway to the door.

Smiling, Alison followed as they made their way to Beth’s small silver car outside. They drove the 15 minutes to Sarah’s house, keeping an eye out for the address since neither girl had been there before. They pulled up to the front of the house and parked on the curb. Alison followed behind, letting Beth knock on the door. Alison barely had time to eye the dead grass in the yard before the door swung open and Sarah waved them in.

“Cosima’s not ready yet so why don’t you guys have a seat.” She informed them. “You want a water bottle?”

“Water would be great.” Beth smiled, entering further into the house.

“No, thank you.” Alison answered, eyeing the living room.

Sarah nodded and leaving them in the living room. Beth threw herself down on the couch and Alison remained standing, examining the walls. She was surprised by the amount of pictures of Sarah and Felix. Mrs. S wasn’t in very many of them but the two siblings seemed close; Alison still hadn’t forgotten her verbal fight with the younger boy. Sarah didn’t take long, tossing a bottle to Beth before taking a drink of her own water bottle.

“Did Cosima go back to sleep?” Beth wondered.

“Probably.” Sarah laughed. “Yesterday she didn’t get out of bed until 12:30!”

“Who needs that much sleep?” Beth laughed.

“I think she stays up late on her computer.” Sarah said. “Sometimes I can hear typing and muffled laughing from her room.”

“Oh my god! You can hear that?” Cosima asked, coming down the stairs.

“Only a little.” Sarah answered. “Like, when I wake up to go to the bathroom. What are you doing in there anyways?”

“Oh, you know, I’m just on the internet…” Cosima said flippantly. “Anyways. Are we ready?”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Sarah stood, heading towards the door.

The group headed outside while Sarah locked up the house. They got into the car and after a brief squabble over the radio they were headed off to the movie theater. Once they had arrived, they all stood in front of the box office staring at the movie times. People were walking by and constantly doing a double take when they spotted the four girls but they were too engrossed in finding a movie to notice.

“So what are we seeing?” Beth asked, her eyes scanning the movie titles.

“Well, that one seems good.” Alison pointed to a romantic comedy.

“I don’t really do rom-coms.” Sarah disagreed.

“You seem very good at shooting down everyone’s ideas.” Alison muttered.

“What do you want to see?” Cosima asked Sarah, stopping the other girl from answering.

“I honestly don’t know.” Sarah shrugged. “What about Godzilla?”

“I don’t think so.” Alison asked. “What starts next?”

“The newest Spiderman movie.” Beth answered.

“Oh cool. I still haven’t seen that yet.” Cosima smiled.

“I could get onboard with that.” Sarah said.

“Me too. Alison?” Beth asked.

“I guess that’s fine.” Alison shrugged. “I’ve never seen the first one so I won’t really know what’s happening.”

“Yeah, but its Spiderman. Everyone kind of knows…” Cosima started but trailed off when Alison shook her head.

“I never watched any of those superhero movies.” Alison admitted.

“Any of them?” Cosima gasped.

“Nope.” Alison confirmed.

“You know.” Beth said slowly. “My dad has a pretty big DVD collection. I’m pretty sure I have all those movies at home.”

Sarah and Cosima shared a conspiratorial look.

“I’m down.” Cosima agreed.

“We could do pizza.” Sarah suggested, shrugging.

Alison looked back and forth between the other girls’ hopeful faces and sighed.

“Ok, let’s do it.” Alison agreed, rolling her eyes.

They headed back to the car and headed to Beth’s house. In no time, Beth was giving everyone a brief tour of her small apartment, and had set up Alison on the phone to order their pizza while Sarah and Cosima sorted through the DVDs. Beth stood between them, lowering her voice so that Alison couldn’t hear.

“You know, I’m actually surprised you agreed to today.” Beth said to Sarah. “I mean, I hoped it would be ok, but I wasn’t really holding my breath. You didn’t even say anything when she apologized, either.”

Sarah shrugged. “I don’t know. Alison bugs me but I can handle her when she’s alone; it’s when she’s hiding behind her mum that she irks me.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what’s up with her mom.” Beth shook her head. “The woman never smiles and she didn’t even want to let me into the house this morning when I picked Alison up.”

“Yeah, and besides, Mrs. S is always telling me to ‘pick my battles’.” Sarah said mockingly. “And lately, Alison’s been doing more damage to herself than I can do to her.”

“Hey, Beth? What’s the address here again?” Alison called from the kitchen.

“I’ll be back.” Beth said, heading for Alison.

“Anyways, I think we should start with Thor.” Sarah said to Cosima.

“What? But Iron man comes before Thor!” Cosima argued.

“Yeah, but Thor’s hot.” Sarah said. “And I like his beard.”

Cosima rolled her eyes. “But Iron Man is the one that really started everything.”

“Yeah, but he’s a dick.” Sarah complained.

“Hey!” Beth complained, jumping over the side of the couch. “That’s why I like Iron Man.”

“Ok, ok!” Cosima held up another disk. “Why don’t we start from the _very_ beginning?”

Sarah and Beth glanced at the DVD and grinned.

“Captain America. Hot.” Beth smiled, running to put it in the player.

They watched the movie, chatting amicably. Beth knew that Alison and Sarah were pointedly not speaking to each other. They were both making general statements and only asking direct questions of her and Cosima.

“But he looked so buff on the front of the DVD.” Alison said, confused. “And why is this lady so… curt?”

“Peggy is so cool.” Cosima commented. “The only woman in the program.”

Sarah gave Cosima a sidelong glance as she gushed but otherwise said nothing. The doorbell rang and Beth answered the door, coming back with their pizza. They ate straight out of the box, laughing over the movie and answering Alison’s questions. By the end, Alison had to admit that she liked it and agreed to watch the next one.

They had watched the first 2 Iron Man movies and were halfway through Thor when Beth’s father came home. He entered through the door, turning on the light and immediately switching it back off again when he was met with groans and protests from the sudden exposure to light.

“Well, this is a surprise.” He said, looking at all four girls.

They all murmured a hello and focused back on the movie. Sensing that he was being dismissed, Beth’s dad headed to his room. Once the movie had ended, the girls got their things together and prepared to leave.

“It’s already… 10 pm! My parents are going to kill me; I should have called.” Alison groaned.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take you back first.” Beth offered, letting everyone out of the apartment.

“I can’t believe we watched all those movies.” Alison laughed.

“We’re barely halfway through.” Cosima informed her.

“Half-… Halfway?!” Alison exclaimed. “How is that possible?”

“Yeah, then we’ll have to do X-men and Spiderman to round out Marvel.” Cosima counted it out on her fingers.

“We’ll have to do this again.” Beth suggested.

Everyone agreed, piling into the car. They dropped Alison off first, wincing when her mother let Alison in the house and glared over at the car full of girls. Sarah got out of the car and took Alison’s vacated seat in the front. Beth pulled away from the curb while Sarah switched through radio stations.

“Well, that went better than expected.” Cosima noted from the backseat.

“I wouldn’t say we’re ‘ _besties’_ but at least no one got punched.” Sarah agreed.

“Hey, after that fiasco of a dinner, I was surprised you even agreed at all.” Beth said. “But whatever. I think we can deal with a lack of open hostility for now.”

“I make no promises.” Sarah smiled.

* * *

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a somber one here. Sorry about that. I'm in a mood. Read on.

Chapter 8

Sarah and Cosima silently entered the house. The lights had been off when Beth had dropped them off so they assumed that Mrs. S was asleep. Cosima tiptoed to her room, unaware that Sarah was following right behind her.

Sarah entered the behind her sister, finally taking a good look at all the books Cosima had on her dresser. The titles were all things pertaining to Biology, science fiction, or comics. Sarah spotted a handheld game system and several games sitting on the desk.

“Oh my god, you’re a bloody nerd.” Sarah said laughing and examining a book on the shelf. “I thought I sensed it when you said you wanted to be Spiderman, but I wasn’t sure.”

“Hey!” Cosima protested, stung a bit by the description. She rushed over and took the book Sarah was examining.

“Aw, come on, I didn’t mean it in a bad way.” Sarah rolled her eyes. “I just meant it was a surprise. Nerds are _usually_ squares…”

“Mmhm.” She mumbled sarcastically, putting her book back in the pile.

“No, seriously. It’s cool. Say something smart!” Sarah teased.

“What am I, the geek monkey?” Cosima scowled.

“Oh come on, Cos. I’m just playing. You’re pretty cool for a square.” Sarah hit her playfully on the arm.

“What’d you just say?” Cosima asked curiously.

“Nothing.” Sarah said, worried she had pushed the girl too far.

“Did you call me ‘Cos’?” She asked, her nose wrinkling. Cosima couldn’t quite replicate the name without Sarah’s accent.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, it just sort of happened.” Sarah backpedaled. “It was just a nickname, but if you don’t like it then…”

Cosima sat on the edge of her bed. “No, its fine. I’ve just never had a nickname before.” She smiled weakly.

Cosima was quiet, staring down at her hands. Sarah hesitated slightly before sitting on the other side of the bed. “You ok?”

“Not really.” She admitted. She sighed. “I never really had very many friends, you know? And as a single child, this whole sister thing is kind of weird. Fun, but weird.”

“Oh, right. Huge nerd then.” Sarah attempted to lighten the mood.

Thankfully, Cosima smiled.

“Yes, huge nerd. Science fairs, blue ribbons, the whole nine.” Cosima confirmed.

“Wow.” Sarah nodded, trying to act like she knew what she was talking about. “That sounds… educational.”

“But I had my parents. That used to be enough.” She said quietly.

“You had to have had some friends.” Sarah said.

“I had Scott.” Cosima said, perking up as if she just remembered. “He was my best friend right until high school.”

“What happened to him?” Sarah asked. “Move away or something?”

“No. Right after middle school he told that he loved me.” Cosima explained. “I told him that I only ever saw him as a friend. So he ditched me.”

“Oh.” She said lamely.

Sarah was at a loss. Cosima seemed close to tears and Sarah wasn’t sure what to do about it. Her sister was opening up and Sarah couldn’t help but think that she was probably the least qualified person to deal with this. On the other hand, Sarah couldn’t help feeling strangely honored that someone besides Felix was confiding in her.

“And now?” Sarah prompted.

“I haven’t spoken more than two words to my parents in over a month.” Cosima smiled, tears pooling at the edge of her eyes. “I’m not allowed in my house unless one of them are home. They didn’t tell me about this trip until a few days ago; they just couldn’t stand to have me in the house.”

“I know a little bit about what that’s like.” Sarah said quietly, remembering her years in foster care.

“It’s sucks.” Cosima wiped tears from behind her glasses.

“Yeah.” Sarah agreed, listening to Cosima sniffle.

Sarah wasn’t sure what to do at the sight of her tears so she awkwardly patted Cosima’s leg a few times. Sarah was curious about what could have possibly happened for Cosima’s parents to practically disown her like that. She was about to ask when Mrs. S appeared at the door, startling Sarah.

“So you both decided not to let me know you were hom-.” Siobhan said, pausing when she saw the scene before her. “What is going on?”

“Nothing. It’s fine.” Cosima jumped up. “I just have to go to the bathroom.”

Going around Siobhan and out into the hallway, Cosima entered the bathroom and closed the door. She couldn’t believe that she had broken down like that. She knew it probably had to do with the fact that she hadn’t really spoken to anyone in a long time and that Sarah seemed like someone who could sympathize. Cosima had been really close to breaking down and telling everything that had happened until Mrs. S showed up.

After splashing water on her face and cleaning her glasses, Cosima left the bathroom. She heard noises in her room and figured they were waiting for her to come back. As she got closer she could hear Mrs. S demanding Sarah tell her what was going on.

“What did you do, Sarah?” She hissed.

“Oi! Why does it have to be something I’ve done?” Sarah shot back. “Maybe she was just upset. Ever think of that?”

Interrupting them by walking into the room, Cosima smiled at them both. “Sorry about that.”

“Everything ok?” Mrs. S asked suspiciously.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” She assured them.

“Well, what were you doing out so late?” Siobhan asked.

“We were at Beth’s house. Watching movies since Alison had never seen them.” Sarah supplied.

“Alison?” Siobhan said disbelievingly.

“Yeah, she apologized or whatever. So we let her tag along.” Sarah answered.

“And how was that?” The older woman asked carefully.

“There was no bloodshed, at least.” Sarah chuckled.

“Well, alright then.” Siobhan said. “Sarah, could I speak with you for a moment?”

Sarah and Cosima locked eyes. They both knew that Mrs. S was going to grill Sarah some more and Cosima hoped that the look of panic she gave Sarah would convince her to keep the information to herself. Sarah gave her a small nod and Cosima took that to mean that her secrets were safe for now.

Sarah followed Siobhan into her room, closing the door behind her and perching herself on the edge of the older woman’s bed.

“I suppose you aren’t going to tell me what that was about.” She said simply.

“Nope.” Sarah smiled weakly.

“It’s about her parents though, isn’t it?” Siobhan asked.

Sarah’s head snapped up in response. “Uh…”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.” Siobhan said smugly. “Can you at least tell me if she’s ok?”

“I…” Sarah sighed. “I’m not really sure. I think so?”

“Hmm. Alright. She’s here for another week so try and figure it out.” Siobhan pressed.

“I’m not going to spy on Cosima, S.” Sarah scowled.

”Oh please. It’s not spying. Think of it as keeping an eye on your new sister.” Siobhan said.

“You make it seem like she’s younger than me.” Sarah rolled her eyes.

“She might be.” Mrs. S smiled. “Who knows what order you lot were born in. But speaking of younger siblings, Felix called me.”

“Yeah?” Sarah asked, perking up. She would never admit it, but Sarah missed the little guy.

“He’s shooting to be back by the end of the week.” She smiled. “I told him to enjoy his time out in the world because he wouldn’t be stepping foot of this house until he comes of age.”

Sarah snorted. “Bet he loved that!”

“Mmhmm.” Siobhan laughed. “Anyways, I need to get some sleep.”

“Kay, goodnight.” Sarah left the room.

As Sarah got in bed she thought about Cosima. She hadn’t considered that she might be older than the others. On the other hand, she might be even be the younger one; she sure screwed up enough. Sarah considered what would make Cosima’s parents treat her like they didn’t even want her. There was one thing it could be; something that Sarah had picked up on earlier on the day that she would have to look out for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about not posting sooner, it's been a very difficult time since a family member has been diagnosed with end stage cancer. I probably won't be posting in the next few weeks since all I've been doing is working and visiting the hospice center. I ask for patience while my family is dealing with this. I promise that this isn't the end.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kind words. They mean a lot.

Chapter 9

Sarah watched as Cosima rushed around the living room. It was Friday and after a couple of days spent lounging around the house and watching TV, Beth had suggested that they get together again before Cosima left the following week.

They were currently preparing for another movie night with Alison and Beth but had decided to have it at Sarah’s house. Beth was bringing over most of the movies but had let them know that she was missing Avengers. Cosima had come up with the solution of streaming it to the TV from her computer and was now shifting through various wires behind the television. The screen from the TV suddenly mirrored that of the laptop and Cosima grinned triumphantly.

“You’re really good with all this computer stuff, huh?” Sarah commented from her spot on the couch.

“I guess.” Cosima shrugged. “It’s pretty easy once you know how to do it. Plus, like hell am I going to let Alison miss out on this just because we can’t find the DVD. This one’s my favorite. All of the guys and Black Widow? Movie gold!”

Sarah decided that now was the time to test her suspicions. After all, what better time than when she was distracted? Sarah sat up and pretended to pick at her fingernails.

“Yeah, plus Scarlett Johansen is totally hot in this one.” Sarah said nonchalantly. “That outfit is pretty amazing.”

“Totally.” Cosima said wistfully, as she searched online for the movie. “Everybody loves a redhead.”

Seizing her chance, Sarah added. “Was your last girlfriend a redhead?”

“No, she was brunette.” Cosima answered distractedly.

Sarah smiled smugly and waited for Cosima to realize what she had just said. She could see the minute it clicked; her twin’s typing slowing to a stop. Cosima turned to look her way, stunning Sarah with the look of intense panic that was on Cosima’s face.

“Cos, you ok?” Sarah asked.

Sarah watched as Cosima, tears rolling down her cheeks, escaped the living room and ran for the stairs.

“Shite!” Sarah exclaimed, jumping up and following close behind her. “Cos, wait! I was just messing around!”

Sarah managed to catch up with Cosima, barreling through the other girl’s door when she tried to slam the door in her face.

“Get out, Sarah!” Cosima cried, giving up on closing the door and lying down on her bed.

“Hey, look I was just messing with ya.” Sarah said hastily. “I didn’t mean to ‘out’ you or whatever.”

“How did you even-?” Cosima sniffled, not bothering to finish her sentence. 

“Felix is… gay, too.” Sarah muttered. “He told us a couple of years ago, but I still remember the way he would avoid certain things. I just kind of guessed from there. You know it’s not a big deal.”

“It _is_ a big deal…” Cosima trailed off.

Sarah ran hand through her hair and sat on the edge of the bed, utterly bewildered. She had hoped that Cosima would take her nonchalant teasing as acceptance but she had obviously botched that. She was wondering why she would think it was a big deal before it clicked.

“Your parents?” She asked quietly, hoping she was wrong.

Instead, Cosima nodded.

“Oh no.” Sarah groaned.

Sarah remembered how lost and confused Felix was before he came out. Even after Sarah had patted him on the back and Siobhan had shrugged like it was the most natural thing in the world, Felix still felt insecure. Sarah couldn’t imagine what it had been like to go through that and be rejected by your parents too.

“What did they do?” Sarah asked.

Cosima quickly told her about everything she had endured in the last few weeks. The more she listened, the angrier she got until she was pacing back and forth around the room. Every time Sarah thought she was calming down, she caught a glimpse of Cosima’s face and immediately got angry again.

“I’m sorry, Cosima.” Sarah said quickly. She was unsure of what else she could do. “But it’s not a big deal for us. S wouldn’t care, she was even really supportive of Felix. I’m sure none of the others would care, either.” 

“Well, most of them anyways.” Sarah added, thinking about Alison and her family.

“You can’t tell anyone, Sarah.” Cosima begged, grabbing her arm.

“Ok, fine!” Sarah promised, prying Cosima’s hand off of her arm. “I won’t tell; but that’s not something you can hide for long.”

The doorbell ringing caught Sarah’s attention.

“That’s Beth and Alison.” Sarah stood up and headed to the door. “Try and collect yourself while I, er, distract them. I guess.”

She headed down the stairs, thinking about Cosima. She was leaving in a few days but Sarah couldn’t just let her go back where she was treated like that. She wondered if Siobhan would know what to do then remembered that she promised not to tell. Sighing, Sarah jumped the last two steps to the foyer and wrenched open the door. Both Alison and Beth were standing on the porch, Alison carrying several grocery bags and Beth with a pizza.

“Hey, come on in.” Sarah moved to the side.

“Good afternoon, Sarah.” Alison said stiffly as she entered.

“Alison.” Sarah nodded in a stiff greeting before shooting Beth a surprised look. “You brought snacks?”

“Mmhm.” Alison nodded, setting down the bags on the coffee table. “Where’s Cosima?”

“Uh, she’s -.” Sarah started.

“I’m right here!” Cosima said, coming down the stairs. “Sorry, I was just, uh, changing or whatever.”

Alison greeted Cosima immediately but Sarah saw Beth staring intently at their other sister. Sarah wondered if Beth was seeing what she was seeing; flushed cheeks, red rimmed eyes beneath the thick glasses, and the slight strain on Cosima’s voice that was probably from her crying.

 _Damn wannabe cop_ , Sarah thought dryly.

Cosima was helping Alison in the kitchen by looking for a bowl while the other girl microwaved some popcorn. Sarah moved to grab a slice of pizza but Beth grabbed her arm, stopping her progress.

“Is everything alright with her?” Beth asked quietly.

“Yeah, she was just having a moment.” Sarah evaded.

Beth searched Sarah’s face for a moment before sighing. “Fine, let’s just watch the movie.”

They finished getting their snacks and settled in for the movie. Sarah kept an eye on Cosima since the normally animated and verbose girl was uncharacteristically quiet. She was relieved that, as the movie wore on, Cosima started to act more like herself; answering Alison’s questions and rambling about movie inconsistencies.

By the time the third movie had started, Sarah had relaxed and was now amusing herself with tossing pieces of popcorn into the air and trying to catch them in her mouth. Beth was no help, waiting until Sarah had thrown the snack up into the air before purposely shaking the chair Sarah was in or throwing another popcorn kernel to knock the other off route. In retaliation, Sarah would throw a kernel towards her twin, scowling when Beth caught it easily and ate it.

“Nice try, Manning. But I’m too good for you.” Beth teased.

“Easy, Childs.” Sara retorted. “If your ego were any bigger, you wouldn’t fit on the couch.”

Cosima would hush them when their antics interrupted the movie, Alison throwing them a dirty look. Sarah would roll her eyes but Beth would apologize and be still for about 5 minutes; then she would be right back to messing with her.

Overall, it was a nice evening. It felt normal; like they’d been doing this forever. Keys jingling in the door caught all four girl’s attention as Siobhan walked in with Felix. Her brother had a backpack slung over his shoulder and a smug smile on his face; an indicator that Mrs. S had been too happy to see him to actually follow through on her threats of punishment. As soon and Felix spotted everyone in the living room he froze, raising a well-manicured eyebrow at Alison.

Sarah stood from the couch, chuckling as a dozen popcorn kernels falling to the floor, and pulled him into a hug under the pretense of greeting him before he could open his mouth.

“Felix!” She said out loud, whispering near his head. “Don’t start anything, please.”

“Oh, are we all besties now?” He whispered back.

“Hardly.” Sarah said under her breath. “We’ve just come to an understanding and I don’t want it to end just yet.”

“Alright, I won’t bite.” Felix said, pulling away from her. “Hello! Elizabeth, nice to see you again. Alison.” He nodded to her. “But I don’t believe we’ve met yet.”

He walked forward and held his hand out, shaking Cosima’s gently.

“Cosima.” She said, smiling brightly.

“Cosima, nice to meet you.” Felix nodded, eyeing her critically. “I’m sure we’ll have loads of time to get to know each other but right now I’d like to curl up with a hot bath. Sarah, when you get a moment, come and see me.”

Felix turned on his heel and headed up the stairs, dragging his bags behind him. 3 pairs of eyes watched him ascend the stairs before turning to look at Sarah. She climbed the stairs two at a time, not bothering to knock when she arrived at Felix’s door.

“Hey, Fee.” Sarah smiled, leaning against the wall in his room.

“Oh. My. God. Sarah, what the hell is she doing here?” Felix demanded, shaking a pair of dirty skinny jeans in her face.

“Look, it’s complicated.” Sarah started. “She was still a raging bitch to me at dinner the other night but-.”

“What happened the other night at dinner?” Felix asked.

Sarah shook her head. “Nothing much, S shut her down. No one made a big deal out of it and she apologized-.”

“Do you really think she meant it?” Felix asked sarcastically.

“Of course not! In fact, I think the only reason she apologized was because Beth told her to.” Sarah shrugged.

“Well, that makes me feel better about Beth.” Felix decided. “And what about this new one?”

“Cosima’s cool.” Sarah said immediately. “She’s kind of a nerd, but really laid back. You’ll like her.”

Felix nodded along with the description. “Alright, I’ll give her a chance. But tomorrow; I’m too tired to focus.”

“Ok, Fee.” Sarah said, heading for the door. “Goodnight.”

* * *

Siobhan wearily pushed through the front door, weighted down by groceries. She’d been buying more groceries than usual. At first she couldn’t figure out why, they were only feeding an extra person for Christ sakes. But as she walked into her living room she figured it out; her living room had been taken over by teenagers.

Felix was sitting on the couch with a sketch pad, scribbling furiously. Cosima was in the lounge chair with a book open on her lap but her attention was to Sarah and Beth who were currently seated on the floor in front of the TV. Both girls were clutching a video game controller and their attention glued to the screen.

“Can I get some help?” She asked pointedly.

Cosima and Felix dutifully rose from their seats to grab some of the bags, but neither Beth nor Sarah seemed to hear her. Rolling her eyes, Siobhan followed the other two into the kitchen. Cosima was seated on the countertop, handing groceries to Felix for him to put away. They were chatting, laughing, and Siobhan was happy that Cosima had taken to the others in the two days Felix had been home; she had seemed so lonely when she had arrived. But the feeling reminded her of the phone call she had received earlier and Siobhan knew that she couldn’t put off this talk forever.

“Felix?” She started, interrupting them. “I need to have a quick word with Cosima. Can you put the rest of these away?”

“Sure.” He answered, traded a worried glance with Cosima.

“Everything ok?” Cosima asked, getting down from the counter.

“Yes, I just wanted to talk to you for a moment.” Siobhan deflected.

She led Cosima to the den, letting her in first. The den was basically a repurposed bedroom. A chair and desk with an ancient computer were the only things in the room besides boxes. She could tell that Cosima was nervous so she purposely left the door open and gestured for Cosima to sit in the chair while she leaned against the desk. The 16 year old sat where indicated, pulling one leg up to her chest. The action made her seem smaller and Siobhan was once again struck by how different this girl was form Sarah.

If she had brought Sarah in her to talk, the other girl would have sit with her feet planted firmly on the ground, almost as if she was preparing to jump up from her seat to fight; it was Sarah’s way of protecting herself. Cosima seemed to want to be smaller, less of a target.

“I spoke with your parents today.” Siobhan sighed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Oh yeah?” Cosima responded, a slight waver to her voice.

“They have your plane ticket for your return trip.” Siobhan told her, trying to gauge her expression.

“Oh.” She said, disappointment evident. “Right. Home.”

“Cosima, Sarah hasn’t told me anything, but I know something is going on. So I’m going to ask you something and I want a straight answer.” Siobhan said seriously. “Do you want to go home?”

Cosima was quiet, picking at a hole in her sweater. Siobhan knew Cosima had heard her and was simply processing so she remained silent. Eventually, the young girl raised her head and made eye contact, showing Siobhan red rimmed eyes behind her glasses.

“No.” She said clearly. “I don’t want to go back.”

“Ok then.” Siobhan nodded. “I have some calls to make so why don’t you go join the others.”

Siobhan waited until she left before digging in her files for the phone number she was looking for. It was still early called, waiting for Beth’s father to pick up.

“Richard Childs.” He answered.

“Hello, Richard. This is Siobhan Saddler.” She said into the phone. “I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time.”

“Ms. Saddler, of course not.” He laughed. “Is everything alright? Beth said she was headed over there today…”

“Oh yes, she’s here playing some video thing.” Siobhan assured him. “I was actually calling about Cosima.”

“Oh?” He asked.

“I remember sharing my concerns with you when her parents called to ask if she could visit; about their eagerness to get her away from their house. Cosima seems to have told Sarah about but neither girl is telling me.” Siobhan said.

“What changed?” Mr. Childs asked.

“They called today to schedule her return trip home but they seemed reluctant. Then, I asked Cosima if she wanted to go home and she told me no.”  Siobhan explained. “I would like to offer that she could stay here and go to school with Sarah.”

“You think they’ll go for it?” He asked.

“I think they will.” Siobhan said confidently. “All I really need is for someone to prepare the transfer of guardianship papers; I want to have them ready in case they agree.”

“I have their contact information and we have a family courts department here; I think I can get that together.” Mr. Childs said. “I can bring them by tonight.”

“Sounds wonderful.” She said, relieved.

They confirmed the information they each had on the Niehaus’. Siobhan gave him her address and invited him to stay for dinner since he was helping them. She hung up the phone and headed for the kitchen to cook dinner.

“SON OF A BITCH!” Someone shouted from the living room.

“Sarah, language!” Siobhan shouted back, rounding into the kitchen.

“Hey!” Sarah protested. “That wasn’t me!”

Siobhan spotted Sarah standing, offended, in the kitchen holding several cans of soda. She turned towards the living room to see Beth smiling sheepishly.

“Sorry, that was me.” The other girl admitted.

Felix laughed from his perch on the couch, and Siobhan was forced to mumble a quick apology and endure Sarah’s teasing while she made dinner. Before long, there was a knock at the door and Siobhan opened the door, letting in Beth’s father.

“Richard, welcome.” She said calmly.

“Thanks.” He smiled.

They walked into the living room, catching the kids’ attention. Beth put the game down, staring bewildered at her father.

“Dad, what are you doing here?” She asked. “Did you think I need a ride? Because, I brought my car.”

“I was invited for dinner, Elizabeth. Were you?” Mr. Childs asked his daughter sarcastically.

Beth scowled. “Haha, you’re a riot. Now really, why are you here?”

“I just have some business with Siobhan.” He told her.

“Should we finish that before dinner?” Siobhan suggested.

“Sure.” Richard agreed.

Siobhan led him out of the living room amid the confused stares they were getting from Sarah, Felix and Beth; Cosima was missing. They entered the den and Siobhan closed the door while Richard removed several papers from his briefcase.

“Well, that was quick.” She commented.

“It’s amazing how fast you can put these things through when someone in the family services department owes you a favor.” He explained.

“Well, let’s give them a call then.” Siobhan grabbed the phone and waited until someone picked up. “Hello? Is this the Niehaus residence?”

“Yes, this is Will. How can I help you?” The voice responded.

“Great! This is Siobhan Saddler. We spoke earlier.” She said pleasantly. “I’m here with Richard Childs, one of the other girl’s fathers.”

“Hello.” Richard added.

“Of course. Hello! Is this about the plane ticket? I trust there’s not a problem?” Mr. Niehaus asked curtly.

“Oh no.” She said, turning on the fake charm. “I was thinking about what a shame it is that the girls can’t stay together longer; they’ve gotten so close.”

“Oh really?” He said eagerly.

Richard raised his eyebrows but Siobhan just smirked, mouthing ‘I told you so.’

“Yes,” She continued. “I know it would be terribly inconvenient but we wanted to know what your thoughts were about Cosima staying with me for a while; even after summer. We could have her transfer to school here for a bit.”

“Oh, I don’t know…” Mr. Niehaus trailed off.

“Of course, silly me! You would probably miss her too much; forget I ever said anything!” She said.

Richard looked at her questioningly but she ignored him.

“Well, now, hold on a minute!” The voice on the line called. “It may be, uh, painful. But we have to think about what’s best for Cosima. Maybe it would be better for her to keep getting to know her sisters. I’m just worried; there’s so much paperwork. You know, calling the school and whatnot.”

“Well, I was actually talking to Beth’s father; he’s a lawyer and he was saying that once we establish guardianship, I could make any further arrangements.” Siobhan informed him calmly.

“Yes!” Richard added. “I could handle all of the paperwork and have them to you in a couple of days.”

“Really!?” Mr. Niehaus exclaimed.

“Yes. It’s a very simple matter.” Richard told him. “And I know the girls would love if she could stay.”

“Well if it won’t be any trouble… Sure!” He said innocently. “Send them on over and I’ll take a look at them.”

“Excellent.” Richard said with a sly smile. “Let’s confirm contact information and I can have these sent over in the morning.”

They exchanged a few more pleasantries, confirming the address of where they were going to send the paperwork and hung up the phone before he could change his mind. Both adults sighed in relief after the encounter.

 “Man, you were right when you said they would be easy to convince.” Richard shook his head. “I wonder what happened.”

“Sarah knows but she’s not telling.” She told him. “I’m pretty sure that Felix knows as well and I may be able to get it out of him; but if it was something serious I think they would tell me.”

“There’s time to figure it out now.” He shrugged. “Have you thought about sending Sarah, and now Cosima, to the school that Beth goes to?”

“We’re not really in that district.” Siobhan laughed. “Plus, there’s Felix to think about; he’s starting his first year of high school.”

“Yes, but the school’s policy says that siblings can be admitted automatically no matter what the normal district is.” He shrugged. “Once we get Cosima’s paperwork settled, I can give them a call.”

“Well, alright then. I suppose we just need to break the news to Cosima.” Siobhan said, tossing the phone on the desk.  “We’ll tell them over dinner. It should be ready now.”

Siobhan led the way out of the study, leaving Richard in the living room with the kids while she set the table. She called everyone to the kitchen for dinner, ignoring the worried glances she was getting from Sarah. Once everyone was seated with a plate of food, she decided to tell them what was going on.

“Ok, Cosima, I spoke with your father and he’s agreed to let you stay here with us.” She announced.

Cheering erupted from Sarah and Felix, with Cosima’s face breaking into a wide smile. Siobhan saw Beth looked relieved and was smiling too, making her wonder what the other girl knew. It was a relief, however, to see Cosima looking so happy.

“Alright, eat before it gets cold!” Siobhan said, ending Sarah and Felix’s cheering. “It’s not like she’s going anywhere.”

The teens grinned at each other, settling in for their meal.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wanted to thank everyone for their kinds words. This time has been difficult for my family and while I'm not 100% back to my regular writing schedule, I wanted to give this chapter to you guys. Thanks for your patience. :)

“Well, this is wonderful news.” Alison exclaimed, clasping her hands together. “I was looking forward to starting school with Beth, but now there will be a few familiar faces!”

“I know, I’m super excited!” Cosima replied, taking a seat at the table. “Sarah was saying that her old school was kind of run down, but this one’s pretty new, right?”

“Hey, I didn’t say run down! I said it had character!” Sarah defended herself, snickering.

Mrs. S had told the girls the night before how she’d been able to transfer both girls and Felix into Sheldon High, the relatively new high school that Beth currently attended and Alison was scheduled to start in the new school year. For Sarah, the news had been a relief; she hadn’t wanted to return to a crumbling school where all the teachers hated her. They were all going to have to wake up early to catch a bus to take them across town, but it was a small price to pay for a new start.

“Sandwiches.” Beth came out of the kitchen carrying several plates stacked on top of each other. She handed two of the plates to Sarah and Cosima, placing the third in front of her own seat. “Are you sure you don’t want anything, Alison?”

“No, thank you. I’m good with my iced tea.” She answered, taking a small sip. “But, I do have something here…”

Alison ducked under the table and brought up a small, pink, bag. She reached inside and pulled out 3 small boxes and passing the first to Beth.

“What’s this?” Beth asked, holding up the box.

“Let me see.” Sarah asked, holding her hand out for Beth’s box while Alison gave one to Cosima.

“There’s one for everyone.” Alison said tersely, hesitantly handing Sarah one.

“What is it?” Cosima asked, turning the plain box over.

“Well, open it and see.” Alison encouraged, waving her hands at them.

They opened the packaging and each pulled out a phone encased in pink plastic. Sarah held her dubiously, cocking an eyebrow at Alison.

“A pink phone?” She asked slowly, turning it over in her hands.

“I figured that we could use these now that Cosima is staying; for texting or what not.” Alison beamed.

“That’s, er, nice of you and all, but I can’t exactly afford a cell phone…” Sarah said.

“Yeah, Alison, this is, like, too much.” Cosima added.

“Oh don’t worry about that. My dad got a great deal, we have unlimited calling, text, and internet.” Alison explained. Seeing the skeptical looks on their faces, Alison sighed. “I’m serious you guys. These phone lines only ended up being, like, $15 a month. They’re a gift; use them.”

Beth shared a look with Sarah and shrugged. Sighing, Sarah pocketed the phone.

“Well, shit, thanks.” Beth said slyly, slipping the phone into her pocket. “This will come in handy when I’m talking my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” Alison asked, confused.

“Yeah, he goes to school with me.” Beth shrugged. “Or, I guess, all of us.”

“Damn, Childs. Why didn’t you tell us you had a bloody boyfriend?” Sarah asked, taking a bite of the sandwich Beth made her.

“I wasn’t trying to hide it or anything!” Beth laughed, picking at her own food. “There’s just been a lot going on lately, ok? It’s been like, what, a month since we found out about all of this?”

“Where’s he been all this time?” Cosima asked.

“His dad is a big military guy so, every summer, Paul goes to this military themed camp. It’s almost like boot camp but Paul loves it; at least, he said he loves it in his letters.” Beth shrugged. “We got together during the school year so this is the first summer I’ve known about it.”

“So how long have you been together now, Beth?” Alison asked politely, wiping absently at the water rings her iced tea was leaving.

“It will be about 3 months now.” Beth told them. “He called yesterday and said he’d be home soon. Now I’ll be able to text him too.”

“Did you tell him about us?” Alison wondered.

“Not yet.” Beth admitted, playing with the placemat. “I thought I should do that in person. It’s a little much to take in.”

The others nodded but Sarah was staring intently at her. “What?” Beth asked.

“Well?” Sarah pressed.

“Well, what?” Beth asked, not understanding.

“Do you have a picture?!” Sarah demanded, rolling her eyes.

“Oh! Yeah, I have one in my room.” Beth set down her food.

“Well, go get it!” Alison exclaimed.

Beth rolled her eyes but stood from the table and headed to her room. Sarah laughed, fiddling with the new cellphone Alison had given her. There was a knock at the door but Alison and Cosima were too busy talking to hear it. Sighing, Sarah got up from the table and headed toward the front door.

“Beth! I’m answering your front door since these other losers are too busy stuffing their faces to help you!” Sarah yelled teasingly.

“Thanks!” Beth yelled distractedly.

Cosima and Alison let out an offended ‘Hey!’ making Sarah laugh. She reached the door and pulled it open to reveal a tall teenage boy. Sarah was clueless as to who this guy was and took a second to examine him; he had a strong jaw line, light brown hair cropped short, and was dressed casually in a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. When he saw Sarah he smiled brightly and moved forward to wrap her into a hug.

“Surprise!” He exclaimed, squeezing Sarah around the middle.

“Oi, wha-?” Sarah huffed, trying to push the guy back.

He ignored her protests, pinning her arms to her side and leaned forward to kiss her on the lips. Sarah froze, her discomfort raising another few levels as the stranger continued the kiss. She could hear Alison and Cosima gasp and as Beth came back into the room.

“Hey, Sarah, who was at the door?” Beth asked as she came down the stairs. “WHAT THE HELL?!”

Hearing another familiar voice caused the guy to pull back enough for Sarah to break the kiss and wiggle out of his grasp. Embarrassed and pissed, Sarah slapped the newcomer across the face as Beth tugged her back.

“Paul!? What the fuck are you doing here?!” Beth shouted angrily.

She was trying hard not to overreact to seeing her boyfriend kissing her new sister but it was difficult. One the one hand, she hadn’t told Paul about the whole ‘identical sisters’ thing so when Sarah opened the door, he had probably thought it was her.

“Beth?!” Paul asked, looking extremely confused as he looked between them.

Sighing, Beth pulled him into the apartment. “I thought you said you’d be home in a couple of days.”

“It was supposed to be a surprise…” He said, trailing off when he caught sight of Cosima and Alison. “What is going on?”

“I was going to tell you when you got back.” Beth snapped. “I found out I have identical sisters; there’s six of us.”

“Si- six?!” Paul stammered.

“Yes. But I’ve only met these ones.” Beth gestured between the three of them.

“Hey, I’m Cosima.” Cosima waved from her seat at the table.

“Alison Hendrix. Nice to meet you.” Alison smiled politely.

“And you’ve already met Sarah.” Beth said cynically.

“Oh yeah, we’re well acquainted.” Sarah adds sarcastically, plopping herself down on the couch and wiping her mouth on the back of her hand.

Sarah could tell Beth was mad but it wasn’t like she was thrilled either; Sarah hated being taken by surprise.  She did feel for the poor guy, though. He looked like he going crazy, his eyes wide as his head swiveled between each girl.

“Beth, I am so sorry. I, obviously, had no idea!” Paul sputtered. “I just thought I’d drop by and surprise you!”

Beth sighed, her anger fading slightly. “I know, I know. Ok, tell you what. I’ll drop them off and go over to your house afterwards. Give me, like, 45 minutes.”

“Sounds good.” Paul agreed, jumping to his feet.

He gave Beth a kiss on the cheek, waved awkwardly to the other girls and exited the apartment. When he was out of sight, Beth sighed.

“Ugh, that was not how I wanted that to go!” She said, collapsing onto the couch.

“So can we, for the record, talk about how that wasn’t my fault?” Sarah interjected.

“Relax, I’m not mad at you.” Beth told her begrudgingly. “But I should probably get you guys home so I can go deal with that.”

“Yeah, I thought you’d have floated the whole thing a lot softer.” Cosima chuckled nervously.

“I’d planned too.” Beth admitted. “I was just caught up in everything. You know, I hadn’t even told him I was adopted yet. What a mess, geez. I better get you guys home so I can deal with that.”

They all filed quietly out of the apartment and headed to Beth’s car. The ride was quiet for the first few minutes until Beth spoke up.

“Guys, seriously, I’m fine. Stop making it weird.” She exclaimed, giving them a genuine smirk.

Sarah rolled her eyes from the backseat in response. Cosima chuckled nervously and Alison began animatedly chatting about how cute Paul was. Beth smiled wider as the atmosphere in the car lightened considerably. She headed to Paul’s house once she had dropped everyone off and parked across the street from his house.

The front yard was littered with toys and baseballs that Beth knew belonged to Paul’s little brother, Kevin. Hopping over an overturned bike, Beth approached the front door and knocked. She was only waiting for a few moments before the door was yanked open and Paul appeared.

“Beth?” He asked warily.

“Yes, it’s me. Who else would know where you live?” Beth rolled her eyes, smiling slightly.

“Oh, right.” He replied, standing back for her to enter the house. “So… sisters?”

“Yeah.” Beth answered as they both headed to Paul’s room.

“How does that even work?” Paul asked, sitting in his computer chair while Beth took the bed.

Sighing, Beth launched into the story, detailing her adoption and the discovery of the new siblings. Paul sat calm through the entire explanation, asking a small question here and there for clarification. When she was finished, Beth took a deep breath. Saying everything out loud had helped her finally process everything that had happened in the last few weeks; she hadn’t realized how confusing it all was until she had said it out loud. Paul continued to sit thoughtfully, the only movement coming from swiveling his chair back and forth.

“Well, that’s a lot to deal with.” He said finally. “But it sounds like you’re making the most of it.”

“It’s definitely been an adjustment.” Beth agreed. “Even more so now that they’ll be starting school with us.”

“What?” Paul asked, surprised. “How am I supposed to tell you apart?”

Beth felt a pang of annoyance. “You’re saying you can’t tell my personality apart from anyone else?”

“That’s not what I said, Beth.” Paul scoffed. “I just mean that today was a disaster. You all look identical!”

“I’m sure you can tell us apart if you tried.” Beth grumbled. “I’m not about to tattoo my name to my forehead just to make it easier for you.”

“I’m sure you won’t have to.” Paul placated her. “Now, did you even want to hear about camp?”

Beth sighed and allowed Paul to change the subject. She listened as he talked about beating out everyone else on the camp’s obstacle course, and cooking over an open fire, but couldn’t shake the feeling that Paul wasn’t as ok with the situation as he said he was and that this wouldn’t be the only time she’d be mistaken for one of her sisters.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah and Cosima decide it's time for a change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so wow. It has been a while. Like a long time. My bad. I appreciate all the patience and kind words you guys have given me after the family thing I dealt with. I wouldn't say that I'm fine exactly, but the only way to get back into things is to jump back in.

* * *

 

Chapter 11

Sarah was pacing outside of Cosima’s door. She had been feeling restless ever since Mrs. S broke the news that they’d be going to school with Alison and Beth. It wasn’t that she was opposed to a new school; the old one had been crap. Everything was broken and old, the teachers hated all the students, and there was known to be a school lockdown every other week. Sarah would have been lying if she said she wasn’t worried about Felix starting High School at her old school, or petrified if Cosima stepped foot in that hellhole.

No, mostly she was worried about heading to a school where there would be 3 look-a-likes running around. They had already gotten a pretty good taste of what would happen when Beth’s clueless boyfriend had shown up and kissed her without even realizing who she was; Sarah would hate it if the teachers mixed them up. Alison had her bangs and Cosima had her glasses but there was nothing to tell Sarah and Beth apart except for their clothes.

Sarah had made the decision this morning to do something different with her hair just so that she could avoid being part of a matched set. She was now outside of Cosima’s door, waiting for the other girl to wake up and open the door.

“Oi! Cos, wake up already!” Sarah shouted, banging on the door. Sarah heard a loud thud and someone swearing before the door swung open to reveal Cosima glaring at her without any glasses. “What happened, you trip or something?”

“I may have stubbed my toe.” She grumbled, letting Sarah in.

“Well, maybe you wouldn’t stub your toe if you put away all of these boxes.” Sarah told her, trying to maneuver to the bed.

Cosima’s parents had packed up all her things and shipped them over a few days ago but it looked like she hadn’t unpacked at all. Boxes were stacked in every corner of the room, only a small path left to the bed, the door, the closet and the desk.

“It’s a work in progress, ok?” Cosima yawned, falling back into bed. “And why are you waking me up at 9 am? I’m going back to sleep.”

“Hey! No, no. Don’t go back to sleep.” Sarah handed Cosima her glasses.

“Why not?” She whined.

“Because I want someone to go with me.” Sarah explained. “I want to get something done with my hair.”

“Why can’t Felix go with you?” Cosima whined.

“He already hooked me up with this lady; she’s gonna do whatever I want for free.” Sarah sat on the edge of the bed. “Come on, I’ll… buy you a slushy or something.”

“Actually, there has been something I wanted to do to my hair for a while now…” Cosima trailed off.

“What?” Sarah probed. “Chop it all off?”

“No. But I always wanted dread locks.” She said. “But my parents would never let me do it.”

“Holy shit, dreads?” Sarah raised an eyebrow, contemplating. “I guess I could see that. Well ok, let’s go.”

“What? I can’t just-” Cosima started.

“Sure you can, come on!” Sarah dragged the girl out of bed.

With Sarah keeping her in check, Cosima dressed quickly. Sarah shoved a pop tart in her hand and then they were out the door, walking to the hairdresser’s. The address Felix had given them wasn’t too far and in no time they were in front on a slightly run down house, knocking on the door.

“Who is it?” A woman’s voice called.

“Uh, Sarah Manning, Felix’s sister?” Sarah answered back.

The door opened to reveal a middle aged woman dressed in yoga pants and a bedazzled shirt. She had light hair tinted with purple piled on her head and tied up with a bandana. She smiled when she saw the girls, inviting them in.

“I’m Linda.” The woman said, leading them to the kitchen.

There was a table shoved into the corner of the room and a hairdressing chair sat in the middle of the tile. The girls could see various hair products lining the walls.

“So, I’m Sarah.” Sarah answered then pointed to her sister. “And this is Cosima.”

“Felix didn’t tell me he had another sister.” Linda said.

“I just met Felix.” Cosima said, picking a seat at the table.

“Really?” Linda asked, leading Sarah to the chair in the center of the room.

“Yeah, kind of a separated at birth kind of thing.” Cosima explained, waving her hands around.

“Wow, you poor dears!” Linda exclaimed. “Well, Felix is always so sweet to me and he is such a great friend to my boy, Alex.”

Cosima and Sarah traded knowing looks. Sarah had filed Cosima in on many of Felix’s shenanigans with his many boyfriends; running off for a week to follow a boy in a band was something Sarah had considered tame. They both doubted very much that Felix was only ‘friends’ with her son.

“So were you both looking to get something done today?” She asked.

“Not reall-” Cosima started to speak but Sarah cut her off.

“Cosima was telling me that she always wanted to get dreadlocks.” Sarah interjected.

“Sarah!” She whined, giving her a dirty look.

“Dreads?” Linda asked excitedly. She headed over to where Cosima was seated. “Because if you really wanted to, I could do it today.”

“Really?” Cosima asked.

“Yup. If you want.” Linda offered.

Sarah locked eyes with her sister, giving her a ‘this is what you wanted look’. Cosima hesitated, biting her lip before agreeing.

“Ok, that would be totally awesome!” Cosima exclaimed.

“Alright, sweetie. Switch places with your sister.” Linda said, grabbing different hair products.

Sarah took the seat that Cosima had vacated, happy to see her sister so excited.

“What were you planning to do with your hair?” Linda asked, pointing at Sarah.

“I wanted to do some blonde streaks through my hair, yeah?” She explained.

“Ooh! That will look good!” Linda agreed. “Ok, let me get her started and then we’ll do yours.”

Getting Cosima started took the better part of the morning. They all chatted amicably, Sarah teasing Cosima whenever the opportunity arose. Around 1 pm Linda said it was Sarah’s turn. She made quick work of adding the blonde streaks, only adding them to the underside of Sarah’s hair so that the blonde poked through without being too loud. Later, she kindly made the girls turkey sandwiches while they all took a break.

By 3 pm Sarah was getting bored. She wasn’t used to spending so much time sitting in one place with nothing to entertain her. Her leg was bouncing up and down ad her fingers were tapping on the table. All friendly conversation had stopped since Linda was now lecturing Cosima about dread care. Sarah hoped that meant they were almost done. Another 20 minutes and Sarah was ready to ditch Cosima when finally, Linda announced that she was finished.

“Alright!” She exclaimed, handing Cosima a mirror. “What do you think?”

“Oh my god! I love it!” She shouted, grabbing the mirror and examining every inch of her head.

“It looks pretty bad ass.” Sarah admitted, jumping off her chair and examining her sister.

Sarah hung back while Cosima thanked Linda and gave her some money for her time before heading out the door.

“Thank god! I thought I was gonna die, you were taking so long.” Sarah teased, grateful to be stretching her legs.

“Well, excuse me for wanting to look awesome.” Cosima smiled, running her fingers through the strands of hair. “Ah! This turned out even better than I had imagined.”

“Alison’s going to shit herself when she sees it!” Sarah said, laughing at the thought.

“I can’t wait to see her face.” She agreed.

They chatted as they walked, complimenting each other’s new hairstyles and wondering what the others reaction would be. Mrs. S’ truck was in the driveway, signaling that she was home. The girls headed into the house, heading for the kitchen where they could hear Mrs. S and Felix talking. Sarah headed to the table and pulled out one of the seats.

“Hey guys. What’s up?” Sarah said nonchalantly.

“Where have you two bee-?” Siobhan started, turning towards them. “What the bloody hell did you two do?!”

“Oh my god! You two look fabulous!” Felix said enthusiastically. “Cosima the look definitely suits you!”

“Thanks, Felix.” Cosima laughed.

Siobhan sighed. “Ok, now that the shock’s worn off, I’ll admit that it looks good. But try not to surprise me like that again; I may end up having a bloody heart attack.” She eyed them sternly.

“I doubt you’ll get many more surprises from me.” Cosima said, sitting down.

“I don’t believe that for a second. You’re full of surprises.” Siobhan said, handing both girls their dinner. “At least, it will be easier to tell you apart now.”

“That’s what we were going for.” Sarah smiled smugly.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day of school. First day of school!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I've been so crappy about updating, you get a 2 for 1 today. They are both super short and I'm not happy with either one but... I'll never get past this if I don't just dive in.

* * *

 

Chapter 12

“Will you three get downstairs! You’ll miss your bus!” Siobhan called up the stairs, her foot tapping impatiently.

Felix came down the stairs first, tight jeans and an artistically ripped t-shirt, with his hair purposefully tousled and his backpack hanging off of his shoulder. He blew a kiss at her and she playfully slapped his arm as he passed. Another couple of minutes ticked by with no response from the girls and Siobhan was losing patience.

“I swear! If I have to come up there-!” She started, stopping when Sarah appeared at the top of the stairs, dragging a half conscious Cosima behind her. “It’s about time!”

“I’d like to see you try and get ready while you’re dragging this one around.” Sarah snapped, grumpy from the early morning.

Cosima simply groaned in response and grabbed onto the stair rail as they descended. Cosima’s eyes were half closed behind her glasses but was already dressed in a nice shirt, jeans, sneakers and a multitude of dangling bracelets on both wrists. Siobhan had to admit that the dreadlocks where growing on her as Cosima bypassed her and plopped herself on the couch and felll back asleep. Sarah scowled at her sister’s sleeping form but made no comment as she entered the kitchen with Felix to grab breakfast.

10 minutes later, breakfast was eaten, lunches were packed, and everyone was piling into Siobhan’s truck. Even with taking the bus, Siobhan had to drive them to the nearest school bus pick-up which was still a good car ride away. Beth had promised to take them all home on days she was available but with the sports season starting soon, there wasn’t much she could do to help. They pulled up to the curb where a scrawny boy with glasses about Felix’s age was standing with a backpack.

“Alright. Have a good day, you three.” She called as the kids climbed out of the vehicle. “And Sarah, I don’t want to receive any phone calls about you!”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Sarah replied sarcastically.

Siobhan watched as the group settled themselves in to wait. Felix was now gazing at the other boy with interest while, oblivious to Felix’s gaze, was gazing at the girls in apprehension. Pulling away from the curb, Siobhan hurried off to work.

* * *

Sarah found the wait for the bus to be extremely boring. How Cosima could sleep standing up, she’d never know, and Felix was no help since he was too busy chatting up the other boy, Colin, apparently. Now Cosima was drooling on her shoulder as the bus moved along from stop to stop picking up various other students. By the time the bus was full, Sarah had noticed something odd about the rest of the passengers.

“Hey, Cos.” Sarah nudged her with her elbow, jarring Cosima wake.

“What?” She said sleepily, rubbing her eyes beneath her glasses.

“Is it weird that everyone else on the bus is younger than us?” Sarah wondered aloud.

“You couldn’t possibly know that, Sarah.” Cosima grumbled.

“Oh really?” Sarah scoffed as a young girl wearing pigtails passed their seats.

Cosima shrugged and leaned her head back on the seat but managed to stay awake. It wasn’t too much longer before the bus pulled into the school parking lot and all of the other passengers started filing out. Sarah led the three of them off the bus with Felix bringing up the rear as their new school came into view.

 A large brick building with a plaque adorning the front read ‘Sheldon High School, Academic Excellence in the Making since 2010’. The front of the school had a professionally kept lawn adorned by several impressing looking trees and metal benches where students had taken up residence. Sarah heard the bus start up and putter down the driveway before Cosima elbowed her in the kidney.

“Ow! What?” She hissed, rubbing the spot of her side.

“I think I just figured out why everyone on the bus was younger than us.” Cosima said, nodding her head towards the parking lot.

Sarah followed Cosima’s gaze to the see the parking lot filled with newer vehicles. It was easy to spot the many high end vehicles in the lot. In fact, none of the cars looked to be older than a few years old. Sarah thought back to Beth’s car; it would easily be the cheapest car in the parking lot.

“Everyone drives.” Cosima concluded.

“Or gets dropped off.” Sarah and Cosima turned to see Beth coming at them from across the lawn in a long sleeve t-shirt and jeans. “You guys look exhausted.”

“Well, we had to wake up at the butt-crack of dawn to be here.” Cosima smirked.

“Cos, I think you use the phrase ‘wake up’ very loosely.” Sarah scoffed. “You were asleep until, what? Two minutes ago?”

“You’re just jealous of my ability to multitask.” Cosima shot back. “Have you seen Alison yet?”

“She’s being dropped off as we speak.” Beth pointed to a shiny red minivan that Alison was carefully climbing out of. “ALISON!”

Alison turned and gave Beth a small wave. As she approached, the others noticed she was dressed neatly in khaki capris and a pink cardigan. Instead of a backpack like the others, Alison carried an oversized purse over her shoulder.

“Good morning, everyone.” She said cheerfully.  Everyone muttered a polite hello in response and Alison smiled. “So what do we now?”

“Schedules.” Beth supplied, pointing towards the school. “We get them in the quad, come on.”

Everyone followed Beth as she led them through the school, pointing out admin offices, the student store, and bathrooms as they headed to the middle of the school. The quad ended up being a wide open space covered by a high awning with several cement tables with benches scattered around the edges. One side had several stone steps that created a raised stage where several folding tables had been set up and teachers were sitting beneath paper signs marked with sections of letters to indicate which students should line up.

“A-F. That’s me.” Beth said, pointing to the first line. “Meet you guys back here.”

“That’s me, as well.” Felix added, joining Beth in line.

Alison headed off to her line without a word, leaving Sarah and Cosima behind.

“Guess it’s just us then.” Cosima sighed, headed to the line marked ‘M-R’. “Come on.”

Sarah stepped in line with Cosima, sighing when the line moved too slow for her liking. When they finally reached the front, Sarah smirked at the way the adult’s eyes widened when they approached.

The older man cleared his throat. “Um, names?”

“Cosima Niehaus and Sarah Manning.” Sarah supplied, watching as he rifled through the pages in front of him.

“Here you go, girls.” He said handing them the papers. “If you go into the gym you can get your picture taken for your student ID.”

“Thanks.” Sarah said dully, already heading away from the table.

They rejoined the others and exchanged schedules, searching for similar classes. Sarah ended sharing English and History with Cosima, the only non-AP core classes in her schedule, and Math and her elective, Art, with Beth; she was secretly overjoyed to not have any classes with Alison. Sarah watched as Cosima explained her relief to Alison that her good grades had transferred to the Canadian school system and laughed as Beth teased Cosima about their shared P.E. class.

“Cosima, why are you taking French?” Alison asked as she compared their schedules.

“Because I’ve only ever taken Spanish back in San Francisco and they didn’t offer that here.” Cosima shrugged. “Should be easy to carry over, though. So… pictures?”

“This way to the gym.” Beth said, heading off to the other side of the quad.

“I’m so glad I saved this outfit.” Felix said to Sarah as he ran his fingers through his hair.

They trouped over to the gym getting in the big line and settling in to wait. Beth was explaining where everyone’s classes were and explaining today’s reduced schedule to pass the time as the weary old man behind the camera called up each student and snapped a photo. The photographer told each of them to pick up their finished student ID at the end of the day before shoo-ing them out the door. Still slightly blinded by the flash, they headed back to the quad as their vision cleared.

“All right, now that we can all see again.” Alison asked, smoothing down her bangs in the reflection of a window. “Meet back here for lunch?”

“Unless I can find Collin again.” Felix smirked, breaking off from the group. “See you all later!”

“Come on, Sarah. Class starts in five minutes.” Cosima said absently, tracing the quickest route with her finger on the map on the back of her schedule.

“Great.” Sarah grumbled, shoving her hands in her pockets.

“Come on, I’m sure it won’t be that bad.” Cosima laughed, dragging Sarah along.

“I’m coming, Cos. You can let go.” Sarah half-heartedly yanked her arm out of her sister’s grasp.

“You’re acting like it’s a torture chamber; it’s just school.” Cosima laughed.

“Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.” Sarah sighed then rolled her eyes at the look on Cosima’s face. “Fine! Let’s get this over with.”

 


End file.
